Hasan Al Turabi

Dr. Hassan 'Abd Allah al-Turabi (الدكتور حسن عبد الله الترابي ad-Duktūr Ḥasan 'Abd Allāh at-Turābī in Arabic), commonly called Hassan al-Turabi (sometimes transliterated Hassan al-Tourabi) (حسن الترابي) (born c.1932 in Kassala), is a religious and Islamist political leader in Sudan, who may have been instrumental in institutionalizing sharia in the northern part of the country. He has been called a "longtime hard-line ideological leader.".[1]

Al-Turabi was leader of the National Islamic Front, a political movement with considerable political power in Sudan but little popularity among voters. In 1979 he became Minister of Justice. In June 1989, a coup d'état by allies, the "National Salvation Revolution", brought him and the National Islamic Front to power.

In March 1996, al-Turabi was elected to a seat in the National Assembly where he served as speaker of the National Assembly "during the 1990s."[1] This period coincided with a decline in the influence of al-Turabi and his party's "internationalist and ideological wing" in favor of more pragmatic leaders, brought on by the imposition of UN sanctions on Sudan in punishment for Sudan's assistance to Egyptian terrorists in their attempt to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Al-Turabi was imprisoned in the Kobar (Cooper) prison in Khartoum in March 2004 on the orders of his one-time ally President Omar al-Bashir. He was released on June 28, 2005.

He has been imprisoned many times since, most recently on 17 January 2011, following civil unrest across the Maghreb.
Al- Turabi with Sudan president Omar Al-Bashir
Hassan al-Turabi comes to power in Sudan in 1989, and his beliefs are ideologically compatible with bin Laden’s. With the Afghan war ending and the Afghans beginning to fight amongst themselves, al-Turabi sends a delegation and a letter to bin Laden, inviting him to collaborate and move to Sudan. Bin Laden agrees to the offer, but moves slowly. He sends advance teams to buy businesses and houses. He also visits Sudan himself to establish a relationship with al-Turabi. Gradually, about 1,000 bin Laden supporters move to Sudan. But bin Laden also keeps offices and guest houses in Pakistan, as well as training camps in Afghanistan, including the Darunta, Jihad Wal, Khaldan, Sadeek, Al Farooq, and Khalid ibn Walid camps. US-al-Qaeda double agent Ali Mohamed plays an important role in the move (see Summer 1991). Wasalaam,