A Khartoum court has ordered a two-week extension of the detention of former Speaker of Parliament Hasan al-Turabi, now leader of the opposition Popular National Congress (PNC), and of three of his colleagues, AFP reported on Wednesday. Khartoum Criminal Court Judge Mu’tasim Taj el-Sirr said the extension was requested by the state prosecutor on the grounds that the detainees’ interrogation had not yet been completed, the report said. The four PNC officials have been in detention since February, when they were arrested after the PNC signed a memorandum of understanding with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), it added. Turabi and the other three PNC members were charged with attempting to undermine the government by force and collusion with an armed organisation. The southern-based SPLA has been at war with the government of Sudan since 1983, demanding democratic self-government and a secular state.
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