Sudanese Islamist leader arrested

Reports from Sudan say police have arrested the country's top Islamist and opposition leader, Hassan el-Turabi, who was formerly a close ally of President Omar el-Bashir.

An official of Mr Turabi's Popular National Congress party Mohamed al-Amin Khalifa said Mr Turabi had been arrested at his home.

His detention follows an announcement by Mr Turabi's party that it had signed an agreement with southern-based rebels the SPLA to oppose the Khartoum government peacefully.

Correspondents say news of this accord caused considerable surprise in Khartoum -- Mr Turabi had been seen as the main ideologue of Khartoum's Islamist government, until he fell out with Mr Bashir in late 1999.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service