Sudan Opposition Head: Rebel Assault May Spur More Violence

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) -- The leader of Sudan's main opposition party said Saturday that a recent attack on the capital by Darfur rebels may encourage other disgruntled Sudanese to rise up against the government.

Hassan Turabi, the country's leading Islamist ideologue and an ally-turned-adversary of President Omar al-Bashir, lambasted the government over its handling of the Darfur conflict, in which as many as 300,000 people have died since 2003. He also said the U.N. is not doing enough to protect Darfur.

Hundreds of fighters from the Justice and Equality Movement, which has emerged as the most effective Darfur rebel group, staged the bold attack on Khartoum's twin city, Omdurman. It was the first time in decades the rebels had approached the capital.

"There is so much misery in Darfur, genocidal measures actually," Turabi, 75, told reporters in an interview at his home in the capital, Khartoum. "They thought they have to remind this country right here in the center that there is a tragedy called Darfur."

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