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Thousands attend Turabi's funeral

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Thousands attend Turabis funeral
Mourners hold a banner bearing a portrait of Hassan Al Turabi during his funeral in Khartoum on Sunday.

Khartoum - President Bashir visited Turabi's family to offer his condolences on the 84-year-old's death from a heart attack earlier in the day.

By AFP

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Published: Sun 6 Mar 2016, 11:00 PM

Last updated: Mon 7 Mar 2016, 9:42 PM

Senior Sudanese officials joined some 3,000 mourners on Sunday at the funeral of veteran religious leader Hassan Turabi, an ally turned outspoken critic of the government.
Police were out in force as Turabi's shrouded body was laid to rest in the Burri cemetery in the east of the capital.
Mourners from his Popular Congress Party paraded banners bearing his photograph and paying tribute to his life.
First Vice-President Bakri Hassan Saleh was among several members of the government who attended the ceremony but President Omar Al Bashir was absent after flying out to Jakarta for a summit that opens on Monday.
President Bashir visited Turabi's family on Saturday to offer his condolences on the 84-year-old's death from a heart attack earlier in the day.
The two men were once close allies. Turabi was a leading force behind the 1989 coup that brought Bashir to power, ushering in a regime that hosted Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden from 1992 to 1996.
A power struggle between them saw Turabi dismissed from the ruling National Congress Party leadership a decade after the coup. He later formed his own party.
Turabi was the only Sudanese politician to support a warrant issued for Bashir's arrest by the International Criminal Court (ICC). He was detained several times over a career spanning four decades, including in January 2009 two days after urging Bashir to give himself up to the ICC.

. Hassan Al Turabi was born in 1932 in the eastern town of Kassala.
. Turabi obtained master's degree in law from London and a doctorate from Sorbonne University in Paris.
. The veteran leader was able to speak English, French and German fluently as well as Arabic.
Turabi played a crucial role in the introduction of Sharia law in Sudan in 1983.
. Turabi played a crucial force in the 1989 coup that brought Omar Al Bashir to power.
However, he later developed differences with Bashir.
. Turabi was the only politician to support a warrant issued for Bashir's arrest by the International Criminal Court.
Turabi played a crucial role in the introduction of Sharia law in Sudan in 1983.



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