21 Sudanese plead not guilty in plot to overthrow president
KHARTOUM, Jan 5, 2005 (AP) — Twenty-one military personnel pleaded not guilty Wednesday to allegedly plotting to overthrow Sudan’s president last year.
The 21 defendants, including six officers, were arrested along with 74 civilians in March and October in an alleged coup plot that the government of President Omar el-Bashir has linked to the Popular Congress party’s leader, detained Islamic fundamentalist Hassan Turabi.
Turabi, who hasn’t been charged, helped el-Bashir engineer his own 1989 coup to topple Sudan ‘s last democratically elected prime minister, Sadiq el-Mahdi, but later fell out of favor with the president who believed his former aide was trying to make a grab for power.
Sixty-one of the 74 detained civilians, mostly members of Turabi’s party, also pleaded not guilty Tuesday in a civil court to plotting to overthrow el-Bashir’s regime. The remaining 13 will enter pleas when they face court Saturday.
Seven people wanted by authorities remain at large, including the alleged plot’s mastermind, former agriculture minister Adam Mohamadain, and Khalil Ibrahim, party leader of the Darfur-based Justice and Equality Movement – one of two main rebel groups fighting government forces.
The trials are being held against the backdrop of the raging Darfur conflict, which began in February 2003 after rebels opposed to el-Bashir’s government took up arms against his soldiers. The conflict has killed tens of thousands and forced nearly 2 million people non-Arab African villagers from their homes.
El-Bashir’s government has accused the coup plotters – including Turabi, who is under house arrest – of fomenting the Darfur conflict, which the U.N. and U.S. had urged the warring sides to end.
On the opening day of a military tribunal in Khartoum on Wednesday, the 21 army personnel pleaded not guilty to a range of charges, including one of mutiny, relating to an alleged attempt to recruit other army members and civilians to aid the coup bid.
They also denied charges of plotting to detain prominent public figures, occupy military outposts, use weapons and take over strategic utilities, including main bridges in Khartoum and the state-run radio station.
The defendants gave no testimonies, but are expected to do so when the tribunal resumes Sunday.
Meanwhile, el-Bashir issued a presidential decree Wednesday promoting more than 180 former rebels who had fought government forces during southern Sudan ‘s 21-year civil war to the African nation’s army.
The ex-rebels split in 1997 from the main rebel Sudanese People’s Liberation Army and signed a peace deal with the government before becoming a pro-government militia.
The move follows the recent signing of cease-fire and peace accords to end the southern war, which claimed more than 2 million lives, mainly through conflict-induced famine and disease. A final deal is expected to be signed in days.
Defense Minister Maj. Gen. Bakri Hassan Salih said during a swearing-in ceremony that the promotions are to reward the troops for fighting on the government side during the war. Salih also hoped the promotions would convince SPLA fighters to also join the Sudanese army’s ranks.