Bashir suspends Turabi, consolidates power

Sudanese Islamist leader Hassan al-Turabi, ousted as Speaker of Parliament by President Omar al-Bashir in December after a power struggle between the two, on Sunday threatened to turn to the people and refused to rule out the possibility of violence after Bashir moved to restrict his political influence even further. Bashir issued a presidential decree on Saturday suspending the national secretariat of the ruling National Congress Party - including Turabi, its Secretary-General - and closing down the offices of the party’s secretaries in Sudan’s 26 states, Sudanese media reported.

Bashir said he had made every effort to resolve the power struggle but “was left with just two options: either to stand up to the situation or step down,” Agence France Presse reported. The president alleged that Turabi had been inciting the army, security forces and police against the government, news organisations added. Leaders of the armed forces had pledged their full support for the presidential decree and “to counter any action that might put the country at risk,” Sudanese television reported on Monday.