Sudan's Turabi held over coup plot'

Category: World News

Date Added: 1 April 2004

KHARTOUM Security police detained the leading Islamic opposition leader Hassan Turabi early yesterday, three days after members of his party were accused of conspiring to topple the government, his wife said.

Wisal el-Mahdi said a squad of police came to their Khartoum home in the early hours and arrested her husband, saying that he was "wanted by the authorities".

The arrest followed the government's detention on Sunday of members of Turabi's Popular National Congress (PNC) and some military officers in connection with an alleged plot to overthrow President Omar el-Bashir.

"We were expecting this arrest" because of the alleged coup attempt, elMahdi said, and described the detention as "a government setup", saying the government was using the alleged coup plot as a pretext "to oppress our party".

Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said in state newspapers police were investigating "security breaches" by an undisclosed number of people.

However, he did not mention a coup plot nor did he confirm that the detainees belonged to the armed forces or the PNC. Sapa-AFP