Beshir accused the secretary general of the ruling Islamic party, the National Congress (NC), of plotting against the government and vowed to act decisively to end his political life.

Turabi had "incited the army, security forces, police, the Mujaheddin (civilian volunteers to fight southern rebels) and students to rise up against the government," General Beshir said at a meeting of NC leaders late Thursday in Khartoum.

Contacted by phone from Cairo, Turabi said he expected to be arrested within the next few hours, adding that he believed Beshir "is heading for a regime of military dictatorship."

"Measures are being taken which appear to be the prelude to arrests being made [Friday] evening and I will no doubt be among them," he said.

Turabi said that "All the federal state governors appointed by General Beshir have gone back to their provinces to enforce decisions already taken, which probably include arrests" of Turabi’s supporters.

Turabi also said that "Nobody can impose tyranny on Sudan as the tide of Islam will react."

"The Sudanese people have never accepted dictatorships, they will react and there will be a popular revolution," he said.

He ruled out violent clashes between his followers and those of the head of state, saying he "would never be the first to provoke" such a confrontation.

Beshir had accused Turabi, long considered the eminence grise behind the Beshir regime, of "calling up officers and the Mujaheddin during the night," to incite them to rise up against the regime.

"We are going to take decisive measures to end the escalating crisis in the country," which would "put an end to Turabi's hostile activities toward the government, which are aimed at overthrowing it," said Beshir.

Turabi "is aggravating the current crisis regarding the rebellion in the south," Beshir added, recalling that 14 people including six students were killed Wednesday in fighting with opposition forces in eastern Sudan.

The president, who is also the NC chairman, could act to ban Turabi from party activities or call for an emergency party congress, the daily Al-Rai Al-Am reported said.

Putting Turabi under house arrest "has not been ruled out," Al-Rai Al-Am said, citing unidentified sources.

Beshir pushed Turabi out of the inner circles of power on December 12 by dissolving the country's parliament, declaring a nationwide state of emergency, and suspending certain articles of the constitution.

In January, Turabi had to accept a cohabitation arrangement within the NC weighted heavily in favor of Beshir. The Sudanese president has since pressed for a reconciliation with opposition parties and sought to raise hopes for an end to a 17-year civil war with rebels in the south.

The power struggle between the two factions has been going on for more than 18 months, but was being played out discreetly inside the party.

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