Turabi transferred to jail

Sudan's Islamist opposition leader, Hasan al-Turabi, who has been under house arrest for the past year, has been transferred to prison, according to media reports.

Turabi, the former Speaker of parliament, was arrested in February 2001 on charges of undermining the constitution and waging war against the state. His arrest marked the end of a long power struggle with President Umar al Bashir, whom he helped bring to power in a 1989 coup.

Turabi's transfer to jail follows a presidential decree extending his house arrest for another year. The decision sparked violent protests from his supporters, and attacks on prominent government officials in Khartoum.

Wisal al-Mahdi, Turabi's wife, complained that the authorities at Kober Prison, in the north of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, were barring her from visiting her husband, AFP reported.

A regional analyst told IRIN on Tuesday that Khartoum's decision to transfer Turabi to jail indicated it was becoming "increasingly nervous" of his influence on the northern population.

"He is the major political threat to the government," the analyst said. "He controls the Muslim extremist groups. They don't know what he might do next."

Turabi recently voiced his opposition to a peace agreement between the government and the rebels reached in the Kenyan town of Machakos in July. "Turabi said the government sold out on Islam by trying to divide the country," the analyst said. "This is making Khartoum very nervous."