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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 May 2000 Issue No. 481 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 May 2000 Issue No. 481
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Books Features Interview Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Marginalising Al-Turabi
A SUDANESE government spokesman said that the country's deposed Islamist ideologue, Hassan Al-Turabi, "has secured his place in Sudanese history," but had to be reined in, reports Mohamed Khaled
Turabi, long seen as the power behind President Omar Al-Bashir's government, was fired Saturday as the secretary-general of the ruling National Congress Party (NC), thereby removing him from his last official post. He and his Islamist aides were also banned from participating in any political activity. That same day the Sudanese army surrounded NC headquarters to prevent Al-Turabi's loyalists from entering.
President Al-Bashir's decision to fire Al-Turabi was the latest move in the ongoing confrontation between the two figures since the Sudanese president dissolved the parliament in December and declared a state of emergency. Al-Turabi had been parliament speaker until the body was dissolved. Al-Bashir said his decisions were necessary to end the dual-power situation in Sudan and to ensure that the government spoke in one voice. The decision on Saturday to fire Al-Turabi was taken after Bashir accused him of meeting secretly with army officers to overthrow his government.
In his first reaction to the decision, Al-Turabi accused Al-Bashir on Sunday of abandoning the constitution and using the military to take control of the ruling party. He told reporters that Bashir had no authority to suspend him from his post as secretary-general of the NC. Al-Turabi later delivered a speech in front of at least 1,000 supporters who gathered in front of his house to express their solidarity, saying that Al-Bashir, like all military rulers, did not want anybody to question his decisions.
The Sudanese government vehemently denied reports that it was planning to arrest Al-Turabi, and said that he was free to participate in political activity, "but outside the NC," said the government's official spokesman, Ghazi Salaheddin. He added that it was "not logical that the strongest opposition to the regime would come from within the government and the ruling party."
A Khartoum-based analyst told Al-Ahram Weekly that although Al-Turabi vowed to continue his struggle against Al-Bashir, it was highly unlikely that he would resort to force or escalate the conflict into an armed confrontation. "Al-Turabi's tactics seem to be in favour of escalating the political confrontation rather than an armed one," the analyst said. Al-Turabi is also expected to begin to disclose the regime's secrets, according to the same analyst, in order to distance himself from the current government and portray himself as a defender of democracy and pluralism.
SLA seeks amnesty
THE LEBANESE government said that the commander of the Israeli-allied militiamen in southern Lebanon must surrender to authorities and stand trial for treason before demanding amnesty for his men."It is strange that Antoine Lahd is asking the president for a general amnesty [for his militiamen] while he is still carrying out attacks alongside the enemy of his country, against civilians of his country, and sometimes the army of his country," Lebanese Prime Minister Salim Hoss said in a statement issued by his office on Tuesday.
Hoss' statement came a day after Lahd, commander of the South Lebanon Army (SLA) militia, appealed to Lebanese President Emile Lahoud to grant his followers a general amnesty similar to a 1991 pardon granted to members of militias throughout Lebanon for most of the crimes committed during the devastating 1975-90 civil war.
Financed, armed and trained by Israel, the SLA assists some 1,500 Israeli soldiers in patrolling the border strip in southern Lebanon which comprises approximately 10 per cent of Lebanon's territory. Israel has held this self-declared "security zone" since 1985.
Amnesty back in Algeria
AMNESTY international toured western Algeria Monday, a week into its first visit to the country since the group was expelled in 1996 for criticising the government's human rights record.The four-member delegation, led by a Canadian, Roger Clark, met families of victims at the town of Relizane, 300 kilometres west of Algiers. They also met friends and relatives of people in the town allegedly arrested by government forces and not heard of since. In 1998 Relizane was the scene of a spate of civilian massacres attributed to armed Islamic groups.
Algerian President Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika said his country welcomed visits by human rights groups as part of his effort to restore peace in Algeria. At least three other international human rights groups are expected to visit Algiers in coming weeks.
The visit by the Amnesty delegation coincided with more massacres against civilians allegedly carried out by the country's most violent armed organisation, the Armed Islamic Group (GIA). GIA rejected a law Bouteflika proposed last year to grant amnesty to militants who give up violence and surrender their weapons.
Algerian newspapers reported on Sunday that suspected GIA members cut the throats of a father and his eight sons, bringing the number of civilians killed last week to at least 28.
"The bodies of the nine victims were found on Saturday morning in a horrendous state. Their throats had been slashed and then they had been stabbed several times all over their bodies," Al-Khabar daily said, quoting local authorities.
The killing took place at Bou Gaid village in Tissemsilt region, 170 kilometres south of Algiers.
At least 19 civilians were killed last week when suspected GIA rebels attacked a passenger bus at a bogus roadblock near Medea, 80 kilometres south of the capital.
