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