Sudan arrests opposition leader Turabi

Sudanese security forces on Tuesday arrested opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi and eight other officials of his Popular Congres Party after they called for a ´popular revolution´ if Khartoum did not reverse price rises.
Turabi's arrest comes at a politically sensitive time for the government of President Omar Hassan al Bashir, who stands to lose control over the oil-producing south which last week voted in an independence referendum.

Sudan's opposition threatened on Sunday to take to the streets if the government did not remove its finance minister and dismantle parliament over the decision to raise prices on a range of goods.
Al Turabi had earlier said, in an interview with AFP, that  an uprising in north Sudan, similar to recent developments in Tunisia, was ´likely´ and that ´this country has known popular uprisings before.´What happened in Tunisia is a reminder. This is likely to happen in Sudan ... If it doesn't, then there will be a lot of bloodshed. The whole country is armed. In the towns, it will be a popular uprising, but in Darfur, and in Kordofan as well, they have weapons.´ Turabi (78) has been imprisoned in 2003, 2004 and 2009, since he left President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's ruling party in 1999/2000.