Sudan police tear gas opposition protesters

By Andrew Heavens

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudanese security forces fired tear gas to disperse more than 200 opposition protesters who tried to rally near Sudan's parliament on Monday to demand reforms before presidential and parliamentary polls.

Riot police with batons and shields arrested up to 40 demonstrators minutes after they started a march, and closed off streets around the parliament buildings, witnesses and officials said.

Political tensions are mounting in Sudan in the build-up to the April elections. Khartoum drew international criticism after arresting three leaders from the main party in south Sudan at a rally last week.

South Sudan's former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and opposition groups are demanding that President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's northern National Congress Party (NCP) ushers in reform of Sudan's security forces and other arms of the government.

The sides came closer together on Sunday when Bashir's party reached a deal with the SPLM on the terms of a referendum on southern independence, due in 2011.

Opposition groups said on Monday they were pushing for more changes before the elections and referendum.

More than 200 opposition and SPLM supporters gathered outside a compound close to Sudan's parliament but were confronted by police as soon as they ventured on to the street, a Reuters witness said.

Protesters, some of them injured, took shelter inside the compound which was then surrounded by security forces, party officials inside told Reuters. Police ordered reporters to leave the scene.