Sudan moves Turabi out of jail

President Bashir and Mr Turabi: A bitter rivalry

Islamist opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi has been transferred from prison to house arrest in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

Mr Turabi has been awaiting trial since February, on charges related to signing an agreement with separatist rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), who have been at war with successive governments since the 1980s.

Mr al-Turabi is said to be in good health

The transfer follows a court's refusal to renew the detention order, after the government failed to meet a deadline for the trial of Mr Turabi and his associates.

The government said that this is a positive move as Mr Turabi is not living in difficult prison conditions.

But the opposition said the move was a government ploy to avoid releasing Mr Turabi.

Mr Turabi's wife, Wisal al-Mahdi, was allowed to spend time with her husband and she told AFP news agency that he is in good health.

Rivalry

Mr Turabi's agreement with the SPLA called for "an escalation in popular and pacific resistance, to bring the regime to abandon its totalitarian policy".

Mr Turabi helped President Omar al-Beshir seize power in a coup in 1989.

But he fell out with Mr Bashir in 1999 as the two vied for power. Mr Turabi was backing legislation to restrict the president's powers.

Mr Turabi has since sought to present himself as a democracy activist.

Sudan has been involved in a civil war for the last 18 years that has seen the Muslim north fighting the mainly Christian south.