Hassan al-Turabi
Encyclopedia
Dr. Hassan 'Abd Allah al-Turabi (الدكتور حسن عبد الله الترابي ad-Duktūr Ḥasan 'Abd Allāh at-Turābī in Arabic
), commonly called Hassan al-Turabi (sometimes transliterated
Hassan al-Tourabi) (حسن الترابي) (born c.1932 in Kassala
), is a religious and Islamist political leader in Sudan
, who may have been instrumental in institutionalizing sharia
in the northern part of the country. He has been called a "longtime hard-line ideological leader.".
Al-Turabi was leader of the National Islamic Front
, a political movement with considerable political power in Sudan but little popularity among voters. In 1979 he became Minister of Justice. In June 1989, a coup d'état by allies, the "National Salvation Revolution", brought him and the National Islamic Front to power.
In March 1996, al-Turabi was elected to a seat in the National Assembly where he served as speaker of the National Assembly "during the 1990s." This period coincided with a decline in the influence of al-Turabi and his party's "internationalist and ideological wing" in favor of more pragmatic leaders, brought on by the imposition of UN sanctions on Sudan in punishment for Sudan's assistance to Egyptian terrorists in their attempt to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
.
Al-Turabi was imprisoned in the Kobar (Cooper) prison in Khartoum
in March 2004 on the orders of his one-time ally President Omar al-Bashir
. He was released on June 28, 2005.
He has been imprisoned many times since, most recently on 17 January 2011, following civil unrest across the Maghreb
.
}}p.165 and expanding the rights of women, where he noted:
In another interview he said, "I want women to work and become part of public life" because "the home doesn't require much work anymore, what with all the appliances." During an interview on al-Arabiya TV in 2006, al-Turabi describes the requirement of hijab
as applying only to the Prophet's wives, saying hijab was "a curtain in the Prophet's room. Naturally, it was impossible for the Prophet's wife to sit there when people entered the room."
He opposed the death penalty for apostasy from Islam
and opposed Ayatollah Khomeini's death sentence fatwa
against Salman Rushdie. He declared Islamist organizations "too focused on narrow historical debates and behavioral issues of what should be forbidden, at the expense of economic and social development".
Al-Turabi also laid out his vision for a Sharia
law that would be applied gradually instead of forcefully and would apply only to Muslims, who would share power with the Christian
s in a federal
system.
However, after al-Turabi came to power in a military coup d'état
that overthrew a democratic government, his regime was characterized by harsh human rights violations
rather than progressive
or liberal
theology.
. Within a five year period, the Islamic Charter Front became a large political group that identified al-Turabi as its Secretary general in 1964. Through the Islamic Charter Front, al-Turabi worked with two factions of the Sudanese Islamic movement, Ansar
and Khatmiyyah, to draft an Islamic constitution
. Members of Ansar define themselves as the followers of Mahdi
Muhammad Ahmad
, stemming from nineteenth century Sudan. Al-Turabi remained with the Islamic Charter Front until 1969, when Gaafar Nimeiry
assumed power in a coup. The members of Islamic Charter Front were arrested, and al-Turabi spent six years in custody and three in exile in Libya
.
In 1977, the regime and the two factions of the Islamic movement in Sudan attempt to reach a "national reconciliation," where opposition leaders were freed and/or allowed back from exile, including al-Turabi. "Turabi and his people now begin to play a major role, infiltrating the top echelons of the government where their education, frequently acquired in the West, made them indispensable," and "Islamizing society from the top down." Al-Turabi became a leader of the Sudanese Socialist Union
, and was promoted to Justice Minister in 1979.
law in 1983. Popular opposition against political actions such as the dissolution of the Sudanese parliament and legally-inflicted punishments such as amputation
s and hanging
s, resulted in a coup against Nimeiry in 1985.
His frequent close relationships with Sudanese governments resulted in the famous association against him in the 1986 votes, where all political parties decided to withdraw their nominees and keep only one nominee against al-Turabi, which led to the loss of al-Turabi being part of the only democratic government in Sudan during the last four decades.
by General Omar Hassan al-Bashir and supported by al-Turabi and his followers led to severe repression, including purges and executions in the upper ranks of the army, the banning of associations, political parties, and independent newspapers and the imprisonment of leading political figures and journalists.
Black belt
master, Hashim Bedreddin Mohammed, attacked al-Turabi by using two knifehand strikes to knock him unconscious into a coma
, while al-Turabi was at an Ottawa
airport in Canada in May 26, 1992. Hashim was a Sufi in exile and an opponent of the National Islamic Front Islamist regime in Sudan and had won a karate world championship in 1983. He attacked al-Turabi in a rage when he saw him. Al-Turabi was hospitalized for 4 weeks with constant black outs. After al-Turabi was knocked out, Hashim assumed he was dead and departed. Al-Turabi suffered from severe injuries, the use of his right arm was lost for a while, he had slurred speech and he required the use of a cane. Hashim was supported by exiled Sudanese in Canada who launched the "Friends of Hashim Campaign" to support his attack on al-Turabi. One said "most Sudanese would appreciate what Hashim did." They called for an end to Islamist policies and a return to seculalism.
/Africa, conducted by Gaspar Biro, a Hungarian law professor and the United Nations' special envoy to Sudan in 1993 found the Sudanese government to be practicing "widespread and systematic torture" of political detainees.
, Hamas
, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Algerian Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah.
In August 1993, Sudan was placed on the U.S.'s list of "state sponsors of terrorism" following the first World Trade Center bombing in February. The US State Department notes that "five of 15 suspects arrested" following the bombing were Sudanese.
by Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization, many of whose members were living in exile in Sudan. Evidence from the Egyptian and Ethiopian governments implicated the Sudanese government
Rather than disassociate himself from the plot, al-Turabi praised the attempted killing and called Mubarak stupid:
In March 1996, national elections were held for the first time since the coup, and al-Turabi was elected to a seat in the National Assembly where he served as speaker of the National Assembly "during the 1990s." This was his first instance of holding a political position with some consistency. During the "last few years of the 1990s", his influence and that of his party's "'internationalist' and ideological wing" waned "in favor of the 'nationalist' or more pragmatic leaders who focus on trying to recover from Sudan's disastrous international isolation and economic damage that resulted from ideological adventurism."
in 1999, Al-Turabi was imprisoned based on allegations of conspiracy before being released in October 2003. He was again imprisoned in the Kober (Cooper) prison in Khartoum
in March 2004. He was released on June 28, 2005.
In 2004, he was reported to have been associated with the Justice and Equality Movement
(JEM), an Islamist armed rebel group involved in the Darfur conflict
. Al-Turabi himself has denied these claims.
In 2006, al-Turabi made international headlines when he issued a fatwa allowing Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men, and allowing alcohol consumption in certain situations, in contradiction to the accepted Sharia
law.
After the JEM attacked Khartoum and Omdurman
on May 10, 2008, Al-Turabi was arrested on the morning of May 12, 2008, along with other members of his Popular Congress Party (PCP). He said that he had expected the arrest, which occurred while he was returning to Khartoum from a PCP gathering in Sennar
. He was questioned and released without charge later in the day, after about 12 hours in detention.
Presidential advisor Mustaf Osman Ismail said that al-Turabi's name had been found on JEM documents, but he denied that al-Turabi had been arrested, asserting that he had merely been "summoned" for questioning. Al-Turabi, however, said that it was an arrest and that he had been held at Kober. According to al-Turabi, he was questioned regarding the relationship between the PCP and JEM, but he did not answer this question, although he denied that there was a relationship after his release; he also said that he was asked why he did not condemn the rebel attack. He said that the security officers questioning him had "terrified" him and that, although they claimed to have proof against him, they did not show him this proof when he asked to see it.
Salva Kiir Mayardit
, the First Vice-President of Sudan and President of the Government of Southern Sudan, said that there had been no discussion about arresting al-Turabi at a presidency meeting on the previous day and that there was no security report implicating him. He alleged that al-Turabi was being used as a scapegoat
.
In an interview on May 17, 2008, al-Turabi described the JEM's attack on Khartoum as "positive" and said that there was "so much misery in Darfur, genocidal measures actually". He also said that the JEM attack could spark more unrest.
On January 12, 2009, al-Turabi called on Bashir to surrender himself to the International Criminal Court
for the sake of the country, while holding Bashir politically responsible for war crimes in Darfur. He was then arrested on January 14 and held in prison for two months (until March 8) at the Kober prison before being moved to Port Sudan
prison.
During this time members of his family expressed concern about his health (he is 75) and his being held in solitary confinement
at least some of the time. Amnesty International
also released a statement about al-Turabi's arrest on January 16, describing it as "arbitrary" and politically motivated. Noting al-Turabi's advanced age and his need for medication and a special diet. The Sudanese Media Centre reported on January 19 that al-Turabi would be put on trial for his alleged assistance to the JEM.
On March 8 he was released only days after the International Criminal Court
issued an arrest warrant against Omar al-Bashir
. On April 11, 2009, the PCP called for the creation of a transitional government to lead Sudan to the planned 2010 election, and al-Turabi suggested that he would not stand as a candidate due to his advanced age; he emphasized the importance of leadership coming from younger generations and said that he did not have enough energy to run. In April al-Turabi was stopped at Khartoum airport and prevented from travelling to Paris for medical tests despite having obtained permission to travel from the interior ministry.
Al-Turabi announced on January 2, 2010, that the PCP had designated his deputy, Abdullah Deng Nial, as its candidate for the 2010 presidential election. Al-Turabi was again arrested in mid May 2010, but was released on 1 July 2010.
On January 18, 2011, security forces arrested Hassan al-Turabi from Khartoum
, presumably at the wake of the recent instability in Sudan’s politics. Al-Turabi commented on the recent price-rises in Sudan stating it could result at a ‘popular uprising’ if the unrealistic rises were not reversed. He added that the governments including that of Sudan should take lessons from the recent events in Tunisia
.
Arabic alphabet
The Arabic alphabet or Arabic abjad is the Arabic script as it is codified for writing the Arabic language. It is written from right to left, in a cursive style, and includes 28 letters. Because letters usually stand for consonants, it is classified as an abjad.-Consonants:The Arabic alphabet has...
), commonly called Hassan al-Turabi (sometimes transliterated
Transliteration
Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...
Hassan al-Tourabi) (حسن الترابي) (born c.1932 in Kassala
Kassala
Kassala is the capital of the state of Kassala in eastern Sudan. Its 2008 population was recorded to be 419,030. It is a market town and is famous for its fruit gardens. It was formerly a railroad hub, however, as of 2006 there was no operational railway station in Kassala and much of the track...
), is a religious and Islamist political leader in Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
, who may have been instrumental in institutionalizing sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
in the northern part of the country. He has been called a "longtime hard-line ideological leader.".
Al-Turabi was leader of the National Islamic Front
National Islamic Front
The National Islamic Front is the Islamist political organization founded and led by Dr. Hassan al-Turabi that has influenced the Sudanese government since 1979, and dominated it since 1989...
, a political movement with considerable political power in Sudan but little popularity among voters. In 1979 he became Minister of Justice. In June 1989, a coup d'état by allies, the "National Salvation Revolution", brought him and the National Islamic Front to power.
In March 1996, al-Turabi was elected to a seat in the National Assembly where he served as speaker of the National Assembly "during the 1990s." This period coincided with a decline in the influence of al-Turabi and his party's "internationalist and ideological wing" in favor of more pragmatic leaders, brought on by the imposition of UN sanctions on Sudan in punishment for Sudan's assistance to Egyptian terrorists in their attempt to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
Hosni Mubarak
Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak is a former Egyptian politician and military commander. He served as the fourth President of Egypt from 1981 to 2011....
.
Al-Turabi was imprisoned in the Kobar (Cooper) prison in Khartoum
Khartoum
Khartoum is the capital and largest city of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran"...
in March 2004 on the orders of his one-time ally President Omar al-Bashir
Omar al-Bashir
Lieutenant General Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir is the current President of Sudan and the head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister...
. He was released on June 28, 2005.
He has been imprisoned many times since, most recently on 17 January 2011, following civil unrest across the Maghreb
Maghreb
The Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...
.
Religious and political beliefs
Al-Turabi has espoused progressive Islamist ideas, such as the embrace of democracy, healing the breach}}p.165 and expanding the rights of women, where he noted:
The Prophet himself used to visit women, not men, for counseling and advice. They could lead prayer. Even in his battles, they are there! In the election between Othman and Ali to determine who will be the successor to the Prophet, they voted!
In another interview he said, "I want women to work and become part of public life" because "the home doesn't require much work anymore, what with all the appliances." During an interview on al-Arabiya TV in 2006, al-Turabi describes the requirement of hijab
Hijab
The word "hijab" or "'" refers to both the head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women and modest Muslim styles of dress in general....
as applying only to the Prophet's wives, saying hijab was "a curtain in the Prophet's room. Naturally, it was impossible for the Prophet's wife to sit there when people entered the room."
He opposed the death penalty for apostasy from Islam
Apostasy in Islam
Apostasy in Islam is commonly defined in Islam as the rejection in word or deed of one's former religion by a person who was previously a follower of Islam...
and opposed Ayatollah Khomeini's death sentence fatwa
The Satanic Verses controversy
The Satanic Verses controversy was the heated and sometimes violent Muslim reaction to the publication of Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses. Many Muslims accused Rushdie of blasphemy or unbelief and in 1989 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran issued a fatwa ordering Muslims to kill Rushdie...
against Salman Rushdie. He declared Islamist organizations "too focused on narrow historical debates and behavioral issues of what should be forbidden, at the expense of economic and social development".
Al-Turabi also laid out his vision for a Sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
law that would be applied gradually instead of forcefully and would apply only to Muslims, who would share power with the Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
s in a federal
Federation
A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...
system.
However, after al-Turabi came to power in a military coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
that overthrew a democratic government, his regime was characterized by harsh human rights violations
Human rights in Sudan
Some human rights organizations have documented a variety of abuses and atrocities carried out by the Sudanese government over the past several years...
rather than progressive
Progressivism
Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
or liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
theology.
Political career
After graduating, he returned to Sudan and became a member of the Islamic Charter Front, an offshoot of the Sudanese branch of the Muslim BrotherhoodMuslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...
. Within a five year period, the Islamic Charter Front became a large political group that identified al-Turabi as its Secretary general in 1964. Through the Islamic Charter Front, al-Turabi worked with two factions of the Sudanese Islamic movement, Ansar
Ansar (Sudan)
The Ansar , or followers of the Mahdi, is a Sufi religious movement in the Sudan whose followers are disciples of Muhammad Ahmad , the self-proclaimed Mahdi....
and Khatmiyyah, to draft an Islamic constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
. Members of Ansar define themselves as the followers of Mahdi
Mahdi
In Islamic eschatology, the Mahdi is the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will stay on Earth for seven, nine or nineteen years- before the Day of Judgment and, alongside Jesus, will rid the world of wrongdoing, injustice and tyranny.In Shia Islam, the belief in the Mahdi is a "central religious...
Muhammad Ahmad
Muhammad Ahmad
Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah was a religious leader of the Samaniyya order in Sudan who, on June 29, 1881, proclaimed himself as the Mahdi or messianic redeemer of the Islamic faith...
, stemming from nineteenth century Sudan. Al-Turabi remained with the Islamic Charter Front until 1969, when Gaafar Nimeiry
Gaafar Nimeiry
Gaafar Muhammad an-Nimeiry was the Nubian President of Sudan from 1969 to 1985...
assumed power in a coup. The members of Islamic Charter Front were arrested, and al-Turabi spent six years in custody and three in exile in Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
.
In 1977, the regime and the two factions of the Islamic movement in Sudan attempt to reach a "national reconciliation," where opposition leaders were freed and/or allowed back from exile, including al-Turabi. "Turabi and his people now begin to play a major role, infiltrating the top echelons of the government where their education, frequently acquired in the West, made them indispensable," and "Islamizing society from the top down." Al-Turabi became a leader of the Sudanese Socialist Union
Sudanese Socialist Union
The Sudanese Socialist Union was a political party in Sudan. The SSU was the country's sole legal party from 1971 until 1985, when the regime of President Gaafar Nimeiry was overthrown in a military coup....
, and was promoted to Justice Minister in 1979.
Sharia law
The Nimeiry administration declared the imposition of a harsh brand of ShariaSharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
law in 1983. Popular opposition against political actions such as the dissolution of the Sudanese parliament and legally-inflicted punishments such as amputation
Amputation
Amputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma, prolonged constriction, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventative surgery for...
s and hanging
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
s, resulted in a coup against Nimeiry in 1985.
His frequent close relationships with Sudanese governments resulted in the famous association against him in the 1986 votes, where all political parties decided to withdraw their nominees and keep only one nominee against al-Turabi, which led to the loss of al-Turabi being part of the only democratic government in Sudan during the last four decades.
1989 coup
On June 30, 1989, a coup d'etatCoup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
by General Omar Hassan al-Bashir and supported by al-Turabi and his followers led to severe repression, including purges and executions in the upper ranks of the army, the banning of associations, political parties, and independent newspapers and the imprisonment of leading political figures and journalists.
Karate attack on al-Turabi in Ottawa
A Sudanese KarateKarate
is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
Black belt
Black belt (martial arts)
In martial arts, the black belt is a way to describe a graduate of a field where a practitioner's level is often marked by the color of the belt. The black belt is commonly the highest belt color used and denotes a degree of competence. It is often associated with a teaching grade though...
master, Hashim Bedreddin Mohammed, attacked al-Turabi by using two knifehand strikes to knock him unconscious into a coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
, while al-Turabi was at an Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
airport in Canada in May 26, 1992. Hashim was a Sufi in exile and an opponent of the National Islamic Front Islamist regime in Sudan and had won a karate world championship in 1983. He attacked al-Turabi in a rage when he saw him. Al-Turabi was hospitalized for 4 weeks with constant black outs. After al-Turabi was knocked out, Hashim assumed he was dead and departed. Al-Turabi suffered from severe injuries, the use of his right arm was lost for a while, he had slurred speech and he required the use of a cane. Hashim was supported by exiled Sudanese in Canada who launched the "Friends of Hashim Campaign" to support his attack on al-Turabi. One said "most Sudanese would appreciate what Hashim did." They called for an end to Islamist policies and a return to seculalism.
Alleged abuses
In 1994 a report issued by Human Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
/Africa, conducted by Gaspar Biro, a Hungarian law professor and the United Nations' special envoy to Sudan in 1993 found the Sudanese government to be practicing "widespread and systematic torture" of political detainees.
Once uncommon in the Sudan, torture was now widespread, especially in the south. Non-Muslim women were raped, their children taken from them; paper bags filled with chili powder were placed over men's heads, and some were tied to anthills; testicles were crushed and burned by cigarettes and electrical current, according to a 1994 report by Human Rights Watch/Africa.
Links to militant groups
Al-Turabi founded the annual Popular Arab and Islamic Conference (also sometimes called the Congress) around 1991. Meeting here were several Islamic groups from around the world, including representatives from the Palestine Liberation OrganizationPalestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...
, Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Algerian Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah.
'Turabi sought to persuade Shiites and Sunnis to put aside their divisions and join against the common enemy. In late 1991 or 1992, discussions in Sudan between Al-QaedaAl-QaedaAl-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
and IranianIranian peoplesThe Iranian peoples are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group, consisting of the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of Indo-European-speaking peoples...
operatives led to an informal agreement to cooperate in providing support - even if only training - for actions carried out primarily against Israel and the United States. Not long afterward, senior al Qaeda operatives and trainers traveled to Iran to receive training in explosives.
In August 1993, Sudan was placed on the U.S.'s list of "state sponsors of terrorism" following the first World Trade Center bombing in February. The US State Department notes that "five of 15 suspects arrested" following the bombing were Sudanese.
Mubarak assassination attempt
Two years later an assassination attempt was made on former Egyptian President Hosni MubarakHosni Mubarak
Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak is a former Egyptian politician and military commander. He served as the fourth President of Egypt from 1981 to 2011....
by Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization, many of whose members were living in exile in Sudan. Evidence from the Egyptian and Ethiopian governments implicated the Sudanese government
The debacle led to a unanimous vote in the United Nations to impose stiff economic sanctions on Sudan. The Sudanese representative denied the charges, but the Sudanese delegation was already in disfavor, having been implicated only two years earlier in a plot to blow up UN headquarters.
Rather than disassociate himself from the plot, al-Turabi praised the attempted killing and called Mubarak stupid:
The sons of the Prophet Moses, the Muslims, rose up against him confounded his plans, and sent him back to his country .... I found the man to be very far below my level of thinking and my view, and too stupid to understand my pronouncements.
Decline of influence
International sanctions took effect in April 1996 and were accompanied by a "general withdrawal of the diplomatic community" from Khartoum. At the same time Sudan worked to appease America and other international critics by expelling members fo the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and encouraging bin Laden to leave.In March 1996, national elections were held for the first time since the coup, and al-Turabi was elected to a seat in the National Assembly where he served as speaker of the National Assembly "during the 1990s." This was his first instance of holding a political position with some consistency. During the "last few years of the 1990s", his influence and that of his party's "'internationalist' and ideological wing" waned "in favor of the 'nationalist' or more pragmatic leaders who focus on trying to recover from Sudan's disastrous international isolation and economic damage that resulted from ideological adventurism."
Imprisonment and later years
After a political falling out with President Omar al-BashirOmar al-Bashir
Lieutenant General Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir is the current President of Sudan and the head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister...
in 1999, Al-Turabi was imprisoned based on allegations of conspiracy before being released in October 2003. He was again imprisoned in the Kober (Cooper) prison in Khartoum
Khartoum
Khartoum is the capital and largest city of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran"...
in March 2004. He was released on June 28, 2005.
In 2004, he was reported to have been associated with the Justice and Equality Movement
Justice and Equality Movement
The Justice and Equality Movement is a rebel group involved in the Darfur conflict of Sudan, led by Khalil Ibrahim. Along with other rebel groups, such as the Sudan Liberation Movement , they are fighting against the Sudanese Government, including the government's proxy militia, the Janjaweed...
(JEM), an Islamist armed rebel group involved in the Darfur conflict
Darfur conflict
The Darfur Conflict was a guerrilla conflict or civil war centered on the Darfur region of Sudan. It began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and Justice and Equality Movement groups in Darfur took up arms, accusing the Sudanese government of oppressing non-Arab Sudanese in...
. Al-Turabi himself has denied these claims.
In 2006, al-Turabi made international headlines when he issued a fatwa allowing Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men, and allowing alcohol consumption in certain situations, in contradiction to the accepted Sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
law.
After the JEM attacked Khartoum and Omdurman
2008 attack on Omdurman and Khartoum
The 2008 attack on Omdurman and Khartoum was a May 2008 raid by the Justice and Equality Movement , a Darfuri ethnic minority rebel group, against the Sudanese government in the cities of Omdurman and Khartoum....
on May 10, 2008, Al-Turabi was arrested on the morning of May 12, 2008, along with other members of his Popular Congress Party (PCP). He said that he had expected the arrest, which occurred while he was returning to Khartoum from a PCP gathering in Sennar
Sennar
Sennar is a town on the Blue Nile in Sudan and capital of the state of Sennar. For several centuries it was the capital of the Funj Kingdom of Sennar. It had an estimated population of 100,000 inhabitants in the early 19th century. The modern town lies 17km SSE of the ruins of the ancient capital...
. He was questioned and released without charge later in the day, after about 12 hours in detention.
Presidential advisor Mustaf Osman Ismail said that al-Turabi's name had been found on JEM documents, but he denied that al-Turabi had been arrested, asserting that he had merely been "summoned" for questioning. Al-Turabi, however, said that it was an arrest and that he had been held at Kober. According to al-Turabi, he was questioned regarding the relationship between the PCP and JEM, but he did not answer this question, although he denied that there was a relationship after his release; he also said that he was asked why he did not condemn the rebel attack. He said that the security officers questioning him had "terrified" him and that, although they claimed to have proof against him, they did not show him this proof when he asked to see it.
Salva Kiir Mayardit
Salva Kiir Mayardit
Salva Kiir Mayardit is the first President of the Republic of South Sudan.-Sudanese civil wars:In the late 1960s, Kiir joined the Anyanya in the First Sudanese Civil War. By the time of the 1972 Addis Ababa Agreement, he was a low-ranking officer...
, the First Vice-President of Sudan and President of the Government of Southern Sudan, said that there had been no discussion about arresting al-Turabi at a presidency meeting on the previous day and that there was no security report implicating him. He alleged that al-Turabi was being used as a scapegoat
Scapegoat
Scapegoating is the practice of singling out any party for unmerited negative treatment or blame. Scapegoating may be conducted by individuals against individuals , individuals against groups , groups against individuals , and groups against groups Scapegoating is the practice of singling out any...
.
In an interview on May 17, 2008, al-Turabi described the JEM's attack on Khartoum as "positive" and said that there was "so much misery in Darfur, genocidal measures actually". He also said that the JEM attack could spark more unrest.
On January 12, 2009, al-Turabi called on Bashir to surrender himself to the International Criminal Court
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...
for the sake of the country, while holding Bashir politically responsible for war crimes in Darfur. He was then arrested on January 14 and held in prison for two months (until March 8) at the Kober prison before being moved to Port Sudan
Port Sudan
Port Sudan is the capital of Red Sea State, Sudan; it has 489,725 residents . Located on the Red Sea, it is the Republic of Sudan's main port city.-History:...
prison.
During this time members of his family expressed concern about his health (he is 75) and his being held in solitary confinement
Solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...
at least some of the time. Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
also released a statement about al-Turabi's arrest on January 16, describing it as "arbitrary" and politically motivated. Noting al-Turabi's advanced age and his need for medication and a special diet. The Sudanese Media Centre reported on January 19 that al-Turabi would be put on trial for his alleged assistance to the JEM.
On March 8 he was released only days after the International Criminal Court
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...
issued an arrest warrant against Omar al-Bashir
Omar al-Bashir
Lieutenant General Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir is the current President of Sudan and the head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister...
. On April 11, 2009, the PCP called for the creation of a transitional government to lead Sudan to the planned 2010 election, and al-Turabi suggested that he would not stand as a candidate due to his advanced age; he emphasized the importance of leadership coming from younger generations and said that he did not have enough energy to run. In April al-Turabi was stopped at Khartoum airport and prevented from travelling to Paris for medical tests despite having obtained permission to travel from the interior ministry.
Al-Turabi announced on January 2, 2010, that the PCP had designated his deputy, Abdullah Deng Nial, as its candidate for the 2010 presidential election. Al-Turabi was again arrested in mid May 2010, but was released on 1 July 2010.
On January 18, 2011, security forces arrested Hassan al-Turabi from Khartoum
Khartoum
Khartoum is the capital and largest city of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran"...
, presumably at the wake of the recent instability in Sudan’s politics. Al-Turabi commented on the recent price-rises in Sudan stating it could result at a ‘popular uprising’ if the unrealistic rises were not reversed. He added that the governments including that of Sudan should take lessons from the recent events in Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
.
Further reading
Abdelwahid, Mustafa A. The Rise of the Islamic Movement in Sudan (1945-1989). The Edwin Mellen Press, 2008.External links
- Official website
- Turabi video Interview
- Sudan Update's entry on the National Islamic Front
- Biography of Hassan al-Turabi from Human Rights Watch
- Guardian article at the time of his March 2004 arrest
- BBC article on his June 2005 release
- Text of a speech given by al-Turabi before the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee
- Chapter 2 of 9/11 Commission Report al-Turabi is described in Section 2.3
- 13.04.2006 - Sudan Tribune: "Sudan’s Turabi - Muslim women can marry Christian or Jew"
- 24.04.2006 - Sudan Tribune: "Sudan’s Turabi considered apostate"
- 02.05.2006 - Sudan Tribune: "Sudan’s Turabi accuses Islamic clerics of misunderstanding" with Interview