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Africa Horn | |||
Opposition leader held in Sudan after uprising call | |||
2011-01-19 | |||
An influential opposition leader in Sudan has been arrested after calling for a Tunisian-style "popular uprising" to topple the long-standing regime of President Omar al-Bashir. The call by veteran Islamist Hassan al-Turabi highlighted the precariousness of the Bashir government which is beset by a downward spiralling economy and the overwhelming vote by the south of the country to form a new independent nation. Mr Turabi was the ideological force behind the Islamist coup that brought General Bashir to power in 1989. He has long envisaged the creation of a hardline Islamic state, but the two men fell out in a power struggle a decade later. They have also been divided by the conflict in Darfur which saw the President indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes. Mr Turabi has a strong support base in Darfur and links to one of the main rebel groups there, the Justice and Equality Movement. There is mounting speculation in Sudan that Mr Bashir's days in power in Khartoum could be numbered.
The Tunisian president, Ben Ali, was forced into exile on Friday after three weeks of escalating street protests over government corruption, political cronyism, food prices and other social problems. Mr Turabi, who was arrested at night, had sought to tap into a similar vein of discontent in Sudan.
With a host of recent setbacks for Mr Bashir, some observers believe the former general's grip on power may be fatally weakened. "He already has the asterisk next to his name that he ruined the economy; now he has a second asterisk as the man who lost the south," said one Khartoum diplomat. | |||
Posted by:Steve White |
#2 soon we will be able to say "opposition leader... in North Sudan..." that will be nice |
Posted by: Lord Garth 2011-01-19 05:37 |
#1 Again, as with Lebanon, very important unrest. Iraq may be the only stable nation in the middle east besides Israel. |
Posted by: newc 2011-01-19 02:22 |