Sudan charges 28 with sabotage plot : Suna

KHARTOUM, Sept 30 (Reuters) – Twenty-eight people, mostly members of the Sudan’s armed forces, have appeared in court accused of trying to overthrow the Khartoum government in March, the state news agency SUNA said.

They were accused of declaring war on the state and planning to cut communications and electricity in the capital Khartoum, seize the satellite station and assassinate political leaders, the state prosecutor was quoted as saying in the report.

Of the 28 who stood trial on Wednesday, 17 are from the Sudanese armed forces and many are retired army or security service employees.

The report gave few other details about the group, but Islamist Hassan al-Turabi’s opposition Popular Congress party was accused of attempting to sabotage the government in late March.

Turabi was jailed and his party suspended in April. Last week the government accused him of backing a plot to kill government officials and destroy strategic sites last week. They surrounded key buildings and searched cars in the capital.

Analysts in Khartoum say the government is in a weakened state because of international pressure to solve a 19-month-old rebellion in the western region of Darfur and more than two decades of civil war in a separate conflict in the south.

They say Turabi, once a powerful figure in the government of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, has a number of supporters in the army and security services.

The court will hear statements from the accused on Monday, SUNA said.

Government officials say one of the rebel groups fighting in Darfur, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), is the military wing of Turabi’s party. Party officials deny all links.

The government has said it plans to take legal action against Turabi’s party for using military methods in violation of the political parties law in Sudan, which could lead to the party being banned.