Sudanese security services have arrested leaders of an opposition party over an aborted coup attempt, the local Sudan Tribune daily reported on Sunday.
Fourteen people, among whom former presidential assistant Mubarak al-Fadil and several retired army generals including Mohamed Ali Hamid, who worked as deputy director of security in late eighties, and former minister of tourism Abdeljalil al-Basha, were arrested on Saturday, according to the report.
"Al-Fadil and the others had been planning to stage an act of sabotage, to undermine the security of the country and instigate havoc in Khartoum and cause chaos," a Sudanese official was quoted as saying.
Al-Fadil is the chairman of the Umma Reform and Renewal party, which was formed after breaking away from the Umma Party, the largest opposition party in Sudan led by former prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi.
Al-Fadil was appointed by President Omer al-Bashir as his assistant in 2003, but was sacked the next year.
The security services had known about the coup plot since April and decided to act on Saturday "to preserve national security," the Sudan Tribune reported.
The security services also said that Al-Fadil had sought financial support from Libya, but Tripoli notified Khartoum of the contacts they had with al-Fadil.
Source: Xinhua
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