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| East/Subsaharan Africa |
| New house arrest order on ousted Islamist |
| 2002-08-18 |
| Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir issued an extraordinary decree Sunday extending the house arrest of his former Islamist right-hand man Hassan al-Turabi, after Constitutional Court judges bickered over the legality of his detention. But more than 20 lawyers drawn from a whole range of opposition groups immediately questioned the consitutionality of Beshir's decree and said they were considering a formal challenge. Confusion had reigned over Turabi's fate after judge Ali Yahia told journalists Saturday that the Consitutional Court had ordered his release, only to be contradicted by the court's chairman Jalal Ali Lutfi later in the day. Long considered the power behind Khartoum's Islamist-backed military regime, Turabi was detained and placed under house arrest after falling out with the president in 2001. I think Omar might have decided that the Soddies' idea of world Islamic conquest might be psychoceramic, which led to dumping Turabi. Islamists are arrogant sorts, and it probably didn't help to have him reminding Omar who was the power behind the throne. The nice thing about being a dictator is that you can dictate. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |