KHARTOUM: Sudanese authorities released Islamist opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi and four members of his party late Monday after detaining them for several hours, as they hunted down Darfur rebels who threatened again to attack Khartoum.
“Hassan al-Turabi was released as well as the four officials from his party, said Awad Babakr, the director of Turabi’s office.
But he added that 16 other officials were still detained and said that security forces had not explained why they were being held.
Two days after an unprecedented Darfur rebel attack on Khartoum, witnesses reported gunfire around the US embassy and said the military was heavily deployed in the twin city of Omdurman as the army searched for rebels.
On Saturday, Darfur rebel group the Justice and Equality Movement attacked Omdurman – the first time regional rebels have brought decades of warfare so close to the seat of Sudanese power.
Militarily the most powerful rebel group fighting in Darfur, JEM shares the Islamist ideology of Turabi, although both he and the rebels deny any political links.
A friend-turned-foe of President Omar Al-Beshir, Turabi last spent more than a year in detention after an alleged coup plot before his release in June 2005.
On Monday, witnesses reported isolated gunfire in central Khartoum not far from the main US embassy compound.
Local resident Saddiq Babo Nimir told AFP there were two shooting incidents in Omdurman, where he said thousands of soldiers were deployed in the streets with heavy weaponry and the bridges over the Nile to Khartoum were closed.
The security services were firing at rebel remnants holed up in residential buildings and a curfew remained in force in Omdurman.
Analysts have warned against exaggerating the threat posed by JEM either to the government or the heavily fortified capital, suggesting that the rebels may be looking to improve their negotiating position.
“We are ready to face any rebel threat. We are also ready to hold negotiations with rebels at any place and time, Sudanese State Minister for Foreign Affairs Ali Kerti was quoted as saying in Egypt by state media.
