MORE than 35 leading officials and supporters of the opposition Popular National Congress (PNC) were arrested on Tuesday as the Islamic party tried to organise a press conference, a PNC official said. Beshir Adam Rahma said that the arrests were made in front of the PNC headquarters in Khartoum’s Al-Riyadh district. Those arrested included PNC acting secretary general Abdallah Hassan Ahmed and Ibrahim al-Sanousi who returned from London only two days ago. The crackdown came one day after Sudan’s President Omar al-Beshir suspended legal action against a group of opposition leaders tied to an alleged US-backed plot as well as against PNC chief Hassan al-Turabi. – AFP