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Senior figures in southern Sudan's main political party have been arrested after they joined a banned rally.Among those held in Khartoum was the secretary general of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), Pagan Amum. Police used tear gas and batons to disperse the protesters, who want reforms to election laws before national polls due vote next April. The SPLM joined a power-sharing government in 2005 to end 21 years of conflict between north and south Sudan. Next year's vote will be the first presidential, parliamentary and local elections in 24 years and tensions have been rising between the SPLM and President Omar al-Bashir's National Congress Party (NCP) in recent months. Monday is the final day for voters to register for the election, and the government declared it a public holiday in an effort to encourage a good turnout. But the SPLM and the NCP have failed to agree on changes to the election laws. And about 20 opposition parties called for a gathering in front of the parliament building in the capital to demand electoral reform. Hundreds of demonstrators turned out, watched by lines of armed police. The AFP news agency reported that demonstrators marched through Khartoum waving placards and chanting: "We want our freedom." As the protest grew with some reports estimating thousands of people had joined the rally - police fired tear gas and beat the protesters with batons. SPLM members accused the NCP of suppressing free speech. But Interior Ministry officials said the protest was outlawed because the organisers had failed to apply for permission to hold the event. A 22-year war between the mainly Muslim north and the Christian and animist south claimed the lives of 1.5 million people. Semi-autonomous southern Sudan has been controlled by the SPLM since a peace deal in 2005 ended the civil war. A referendum on whether the south should secede in due in 2011.