A month after release, Sudan’s Islamist opposition leader travels abroad

KHARTOUM, Nov 13 (AFP) — Sudan’s opposition Islamist leader Hassan al-Turabi left here Thursday to take part in an Arab television program in Qatar, a month after he was released from nearly three years of house arrest, his family said.

Turabi left for Doha at the invitation of Al-Jazeera satellite television station and would appear on a talk show “Sharia (Islamic law) and life” on Sunday night, his wife Wisal al-Mahdi told AFP.

He would likely return on Monday, she added.

This is Turabi’s first trip abroad since his release from nearly three years of detention on October 13.

Turabi backed the 1989 military coup which brought President Omar el-Beshir to power but was removed from key political posts after losing a power struggle with Beshir in 1999.

He was arrested along with many of his followers in February 2001 after his Popular Congress Party signed a memorandum of understanding in Switzerland with southern rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).

A Sudanese government official had said the deal, which called for joint peaceful resistance to Beshir’s government, was a “conspiracy, subversion and a threat of violence.”

The president’s office said last month that his release was part of efforts to “prepare for the coming peace era” in Sudan as the Khartoum government and the SPLA make major strides toward ending their 20-year civil war.

Turabi’s last overseas trip was a few months before his arrest. It was also to Qatar where he gave lectures.