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Sudan Frees Turabi and Leaders Accused Of U.S.-Backed Plot
KHARTOUM, Oct 1 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Nearly 48 hours after the United Nations lifted its sanctions on Sudan, President Omar al-Beshir of Sudan ordered Monday the release of dissident Islamic leader Hassan al-Turabi and opposition leaders on trial for plotting an alleged U.S.-backed uprising.
In a speech to parliament, Beshir suspended the trial of the leaders of the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) - arrested last December during a meeting with a U.S. diplomat - and ordered their release.
U.S. diplomat Glenn Warren - whom the detainees were meeting when they were arrested - was ordered to leave Sudan during the same month for violating diplomatic norms by holding such talks.
Turabi and colleagues of the Popular National Congress (PNC) were arrested in February on charges of trying to undermine the constitution and waging war against the state, after forging a memorandum of understanding with an opposition group from the south.
On Friday, the United Nations voted unanimously to lift its five-year-old sanctions against Sudan in light of Khartoum's increased efforts to cooperate with U.S. authorities in its global anti-terrorism campaign.
In a resolution adopted by a vote of 14 in favor - with the United States abstaining, the Council ended the measures imposed in 1996 in an effort to compel Sudan to extradite three suspects in connection with an assassination attempt against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak the previous year.
Resolution 1070 demanded that Sudan stops supporting terrorist activities and giving shelter to "terrorists".
U.N. member states were asked to reduce the number of Sudanese diplomatic staff within their territory, to restrict the entry into - or transit through - their countries of Sudanese government and military officials, and to deny aircraft permission for Sudanese planes to take off from, land in, or fly over their territories.
In Thursday's resolution, the Council welcomed Sudan's accession to the relevant international conventions for the elimination of "terrorism", the ratification of the 1997 International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings and the signing of the 1999 International Convention for the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism.
Explaining his country's decision to abstain in the vote, U.S. Ambassador James Cunningham said the suspects in the assassination attempt had not been turned over to the appropriate authorities, but added that apparently "they are no longer in Sudan".
"We expect the Government of Sudan to demonstrate a full commitment to the fight against international terrorism by taking every step to expel terrorists and deny them safe haven."
Also speaking to the press, the Sudanese Ambassador to the U.N., Elfatih Mohamed Erwa, said the sanctions were lifted as a result of "very hard work with the international community to clear Sudan from any allegations."
When asked about media reports that the Sudan had only began cracking down on terrorist groups since the September 11th attacks on the U.S., he said Sudan's cooperation on terrorism did not only begin after the attacks.
"On the contrary, when we started the process of lifting the sanctions, we had already started cooperating with the United States through counter-terrorist experts in Sudan to meet the concerns that the U.S. government had."
The Sudanese Minister of Information, Mahdi Ibrahim, denied that the lifting of the sanctions was a reward for their crackdown on terror cells.
Speaking to the Qatari-based Al Jazeera satellite channel, Ibrahim said that contrary to news reports, Sudan has not arrested anyone who has connections to the September 11th attacks in the United States.
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