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14.03.2014 Africa

Bashir meets breakaway Islamist Turabi for first time in years

By AFP
Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir C-R greets supporters while Hassan al-Turabi L, a leading Islamist figure behind the 1989 coup that brought Bashir to power, smiles on January 27, 2014.  By Ebrahim Hamid AFPFileSudan's President Omar al-Bashir (C-R) greets supporters while Hassan al-Turabi (L), a leading Islamist figure behind the 1989 coup that brought Bashir to power, smiles on January 27, 2014. By Ebrahim Hamid (AFP/File)
14.03.2014 LISTEN

Khartoum (AFP) - Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir officially met breakaway Islamist Hassan al-Turabi Friday for the first time in 14 years, as the government reaches out to opponents after calls for reform.

Both figures smiled when they arrived at the presidential guest house to begin talks accompanied by large delegations.

Bashir has been courting Turabi's opposition Popular Congress Party and former prime minister Sadiq Al-Mahdi's Umma as part of a political and economic "renaissance" the president announced in January for the country ravaged by war, poverty, and political turmoil.

Critics say Bashir's political dialogue is just a way for the elite to hang on to power without properly addressing the country's problems.

Turabi was a key figure behind the 1989 Islamist-backed coup which brought Bashir to power.

Sudan then became a notorious refuge for militant Islamists, including now-dead Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who was based in Sudan from 1991 to 1996.

A power struggle between Bashir and Turabi saw the Islamist dismissed from the ruling National Congress Party leadership a decade after the coup.

Turabi then set up the opposition Popular Congress Party, became a fierce government critic and has been jailed under Bashir's administration.

Although the two have met informally despite their split, Friday's meeting was their first official encounter, and came ahead of elections announced for some time next year.

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