Three leading figures of a small Sudanese opposition group were given 20 lashes Monday after a court found them guilty of disturbing the peace, their party said.

The court convicted Sudanese Congress Party vice president Mastour Ahmed Mohamed and top officials Assem Omar and Ibrahim Mohamed, and the punishment was meted out even before defense lawyers had arrived, party spokesman Bakri Youssef said.

South Sudan's warring rival leaders held face-to-face talks in Kenya but failed to make progress as fighting continued on the ground this weekend.

President Salva Kiir and his sacked deputy Riek Machar met in Nairobi as part of the latest peace push led by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, after previous efforts in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Arusha, Tanzania, failed.

Twelve students including British, Canadian, Sudanese and U.S. citizens are feared to have traveled from Khartoum to Turkey to try to join the Islamic State (IS) group, their university's dean told AFP Sunday.

Another group of British students of Sudanese origin from the same private University of Medical Sciences and Technology traveled to Turkey in March and it is believed they crossed into Syria.

South Africa said Thursday it may withdraw from the International Criminal Court after an outcry over the government's refusal to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on genocide charges.

Bashir, who is wanted by the ICC on charges genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, left South Africa last week after attending an African Union summit despite a court in Pretoria barring his departure while it ruled whether he could be arrested.

A South African court on Wednesday urged prosecutors to consider criminal charges over the government's failure to prevent Sudanese President Omar Bashir from leaving the country in defiance of a court order.

Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on genocide charges, flew out of Pretoria last week after attending a meeting of the African Union despite a judge's ruling barring his departure.

South Africa threatened Tuesday to withdraw from the International Criminal Court after an outcry over the government's refusal to detain Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on genocide charges. 

Bashir flew out of Pretoria last week after attending a meeting of the African Union despite a court order that barred his departure, sparking international criticism of President Jacob Zuma's government.

At least 18 people have died of cholera in war-torn South Sudan, the health ministry said Tuesday, as it declared an outbreak of the highly contagious infection.

Minister of Health Riek Gai Kok told reporters that 171 cholera cases have been confirmed in the outbreak, which began in crowded United Nations bases in the capital Juba and spread elsewhere in the city.

South Africa's government on Monday denied secretly plotting a safe exit from the country for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, despite an international arrest warrant on war crimes charges.

Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity over the conflict in Darfur, flew out of Pretoria last Monday despite a court order that barred his departure.

The South African government secretly plotted to ensure safe passage out of the country for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir despite an international warrant for his arrest on war crimes charges, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity over the conflict in Darfur, was able to fly out of Pretoria last Monday despite a court order blocking his departure.

South Africa's parliament collapsed in chaos on Thursday, allowing President Jacob Zuma to escape questions over why Sudan's leader was allowed to leave the country despite a court order barring his departure.

The Economic Freedom Fighters opposition party prevented Zuma from speaking, demanding that he first agree to pay back millions of dollars of taxpayer's money spent on his private rural residence at Nkandla -- a long-running domestic scandal.