Sudan charges 74 over attempted coup - papers

KHARTOUM - Sudan has charged 74 members of a leading Islamist opposition party with declaring war on the state, a crime for punishable by death, Sudanese newspapers reported on Wednesday.

The 74 are members of the Popular Congress party led by Hassan al-Turabi, the newspapers said.

They were arrested for involvement in what the government said was an attempted coup in September. The party denies both the coup attempt and its members involvement in any crime.

"The Attorney General charged 74 elements of the Popular Congress party involved in the last sabotage attempt," the semi-official Sudan Vision newspaper said.

It added that they were charged with declaring war on the state.

Other charges include spying for a foreign state, attempting to undermine the constitution and inciting opposition to the government, the newspapers said.

The Attorney General was not available to comment on Wednesday.

A high-level security source told Reuters last month the Popular Congress members arrested for plotting to assassinate top government officials and blow up strategic targets in Khartoum and would be charged in the near future.

Turabi himself would likely appear in court on similar charges, the source said.

Turabi, a former ally of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, was imprisoned and his party suspended in April after a similar accusation that they were plotting to overthrow the government.

But Turabi's wife, Wisal al-Mahdi, told Reuters only "about three or four" of those charged were actually party members.

Neither her husband nor her jailed son, Siddiq al-Turabi, were among those charged, she said.

"Most of them are young people from the west of Sudan who are angry with what this government is doing there," she said, referring to a rebellion in Darfur, which the United Nations says has led to one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

- REUTERS