KHARTOUM (Reuters)
Sudan released opposition Islamist Hassan al-Turabi 12 hours after his arrest for alleged links to an unprecedented Darfur rebel attack on the capital, family members said on Monday.
"He's at home," his daughter told Reuters.
The attack at the weekend was the first time fighting had reached the capital in decades of conflict between the traditionally Arab-dominated central government of Africa's biggest country and rebels from far-flung regions.
Leaders of the Darfur rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), which mounted the attack, were supporters of Turabi in the past but he denies any backing for JEM.
Earlier, Turabi's son said security forces arrested his father at his home about one hour after returning from a conference of his Popular Congress Party in nearby Sennar state.
"They want to blame the party for what has happened," said Siddig al-Turabi. No immediate comment was available from President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's government.
Turabi was Bashir's ideologue until they split in a power struggle in 1999-2000 in the oil-producing nation. Since then he has been in and out of jail but was released along with all other political prisoners after a 2005 north-south peace deal.
On Sunday, Sudan cut diplomatic relations with neighboring Chad, saying the attack by the rebels from the western Darfur region had been supported by Chadian President Idriss Deby.
The rebels made a lightning advance across 600 km (400 miles) of desert and scrub to attack Khartoum's western Omdurman suburb on Saturday in what one of their leaders called a bid for power. Officials said the last rebels fled on Sunday evening.
About 65 people were believed to have been killed. |
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Chad seals border Chad closed its border with Sudan Monday, the government here said, a day after Khartoum broke off relations with Ndjamena accusing it of backing a first Darfur rebel assault on the Sudanese capital.
The Chadian government ordered the "sealing of the frontier in order to avoid all infiltration and suspect traffic" across its porous eastern border with Sudan, and froze economic and cultural ties, a government statement said.
The government's move aims "to ensure the security of its territory and citizens and protect its economic and cultural interests" and to "guard against all surprises," said the statement, issued after a meeting of Chad's ministers.
Chad has denied involvement, but analysts say it may have backed the JEM rebels to retaliate for an attack on the Chadian capital three months ago.
Rebels in Sudan have for decades complained of neglect by the central government.
A peace deal between north and south ended one civil war in 2005 and boosted Sudan's economy by increasing oil production in the south, but that agreement did not cover the conflict that erupted in Darfur five years ago.
International experts estimate some 200,000 people have been killed and that 2.5 million have been made homeless in Darfur since mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms.
Bashir Adam Rahman, political secretary of the Popular Congress Party, said Saturday's fighting showed the government "the war is coming to their backyard" and that it must seize the chance for meaningful peace talks.
But government officials said the attack ruled JEM out of any peace process.
A curfew remained in force on the outskirts of Omdurman, as troops hunted down rebels. Military checkpoints were at every major junction.
Chad said it was surprised at Sudan's "hasty decision" to cut off ties and that it hoped they would be re-established.
Deby and Bashir signed a non-aggression pact in March. Each has accused the other of breaking the deal. |
