Sudan opposition leader accused of sabotage attempt

KHARTOUM, July 15 (Reuters) - Sudanese authorities have accused opposition leader Mubarak al-Fadil and 15 others including ex-military officers of attempting to destablise the capital, a state-controlled news agency said.

Fadil and Abdel Jalil al-Basha from the Umma breakaway party were arrested in the early hours of yesterday morning. Families of ex-army officers later said that they had also been arrested at gun-point from their homes.

"They have been involved in planning to destabilise security and causing unrest in the national capital Khartoum," said the Sudanese Media Centre, which has close links to Sudan's state security organ.

It said the men had divided the capital into a number of sectors and had been plotting since April 2006.

"The plotters exploited retired elements from security forces from Southern Blue Nile and South Kordofan states," SMC added late yesterday.

It said contacts with foreign countries had been made, but did not disclose which ones.

Fadil split from the popular Umma party lead by his cousin ex-Prime Minister Sadig al-Mahdi and joined the government becoming a presidential advisor. Basha was tourism minister.

However, Fadil was sacked in 2004 and returned to opposition politics.

"It is obvious for us that this is an attempt to frame him and distract people from problems on other fronts," a statement from Fadil's party said. "The party always renounced violence and always called for democratisation," it added.

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