TURABI MOVED TO PORT SUDAN, FAMILY DEFIANT

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 000103 DEPT FOR AF A A/S CARTER, AF/SPG ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL KPKO SOCI AU UNSC SU SUBJECT: TURABI MOVED TO PORT SUDAN, FAMILY DEFIANT REF: A) KHARTOUM 58 B) KHARTOUM 49 ¶1. (SBU) On January 25, Sudanese authorities transferred Dr. Hassan Al-Turabi from Khartoum's Kober prison to the political detainees' wing in Port Sudan's prison, in the eastern part of the country. Turabi, the outspoken Islamist who was once a founding father of the present regime, but now its bitter opponent, was jailed on January 14 after calling on Sudanese President Omar El-Bashir to assume responsibility before the ICC for war crimes in Darfur. According to Turabi's son, Siddiq Al-Turabi, Sudanese authorities have not yet charged the 77 year-old founder of the opposition People's Congress Party (PCP) with any crime, and the younger Turabi accused the GOS of intending to detain his father indefinitely. According to the son, the family learned that authorities had moved Turabi to Port Sudan only upon attempting to deliver food to him on January 25; authorities then refused the family permission to visit him at the prison located on Sudan's Red Sea coast. On January 26 the GOS relented, and family members boarded a flIght to Port Sudan with plans to temporarily relocate there to visit him regularly and assist with his care. ¶2. (SBU) Siddiq Al-Turabi told poloff that his family is gravely concerned with the move, as they said Dr. Hassan Al-Turabi is currently in poor health, and the decaying prison in Port Sudan is generally considered the worst among Sudan's motley crew of detention facilities. In a statement distributed to media and the international community in Khartoum, the family claimed that the GOS was denying Turabi vital medicines and special meals. In addition to detaining Al-Turabi without charges, GOS authorities are still holding Dr. Beshier Adam Rahma, the PCP's secretary of foreign relations, in solitary confinement at Khartoum's Kober prison. While Sudanese authorities have yet to interfere further with the operations of Turabi's PCP (other than arresting its leader and his right-hand man),his son said the GOS is "spraying accusations" at the opposition party, accusing it of collaborating to overthrow the NCP regime. ¶3. (SBU) Comment: Once a founding father of the regime, and now its most famous "guest," the verbose Islamist is still widely popular within Sudan. Lost likely, the regime sent Turabi to Port Sudan to isolate him from his supporters in Khartoum, some of whom remain closely connected with the NCP regime to this day. Eventually the regime will have to relent and release Turabi, but for now it is making a point: comments critical of the President in regard to the ICC (not to mention alleged support for the JEM rebel group) will not be tolerated. End comment. FERNANDEZ