'Leader plotted coup'
2007-07-15 22:16
Khartoum - Sudan has accused an opposition leader of heading a plot to overthrow the regime by creating armed chaos that would lead to international intervention.
The interior ministry said: "Weapons were transported, hidden and distributed in Khartoum in order to cause widespread trouble, sabotage and attacks on strategic targets."
The statement was issued after Saturday's arrest of 14 "plotters" that included retired army officers.
The unrest, allegedly cooked up by opposition leader and former presidential adviser Mubarak al-Fadel, would have been aimed at creating chaos that would "allow appeals to the international community to intervene immediately to restore order and stability," it said.
'Planned to destabilise security'
Sudan has in the past been targeted by the international community over its alleged support for terrorism as well as official involvement in what Washington says is genocide being carried out in the western region of Darfur.
A source was quoted as saying that Fadel, who currently heads the minor opposition grouping Umma Islah wa Tajdid, was arrested for "planning to destabilise security and cause unrest in Khartoum."
The source said former army officers were also arrested, including former deputy head of state security General Mohammed Ali Hamid, in order to "protect state, national and public interest."
Most of those detained came from central Sudan - one of many regions in Sudan that complain of marginalisation by the military backed Khartoum regime, that itself came to power in a bloodless 1989 coup.
- SAPA