Islamist party denies fanning conflict, says government wants to ban it

By Al-Khartoum daily newspaper

KHARTOUM, Nov. 24, 2003 — The Popular [National] Congress [PNC] has said it was taking legal measures to protect its assets.

The justice secretariat of the party also said that the secretary- general of the party, [Dr Hasan Al-Turabi], has charged it with the responsibility of taking the necessary legal measures against any quarter or false statement issued against the party, especially the issue of Darfur.

While speaking to Al-Khartoum, Al-Ustadh [honorific] Kamal Umar Abd-al-Salaam, who is an official of the justice secretariat, denied involvement of the PNC in escalating the situation in Darfur, fanning the conflict and trying to undermine the Abeche agreement which signed between the government and the [rebel] Sudan Liberation Army. He said what the PNC did was just to highlight the issue. He accused the government of failing to solve the Darfur issue and instead resorting to directing accusations east and west due to its failure to solve the problem.

Kamal said the government was striving to ban the PNC and stop its activities. He said the statements issued by the first-vice president come in the framework of government campaign against the PNC. He said the campaign came as a result of the PNC’s supremacy in the political arena, noting in this regard, the recent student’s conference, the women’s assembly and other conferences which have been held at the grassroots level.

BBC Monitoring Middle East