Al-Turabi was arrested for alleged links to the Darfur fighters [AP]

An aide said al-Turabi was arrested shortly after reports emerged that a government imposed curfew was lifted in some areas of the country.
 
"Security forces came early this morning and arrested Turabi," Awad Babiker, al-Turabi's private secretary, said.
 
Babiker said that four other members of al-Turabi's party, which is accused of having links to the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) in Darfur, have been detained.
 
The Sudanese government imposed a curfew on Saturday in response to the attack by Jem fighters. Al-Turabi denies that he has any links to the group.
 
Fighters 'chased'

The claim came after government forces and rebel fighters clashed in Omdurman on the western bank of the Nile opposite Khartoum.
 
But Khalil Ibrahim, the Jem's leader, said that his organisation was prepared to launch further attacks on Khartoum in an attempt to topple the Sudanese government.
 
"This is just the start of a process and the end is the termination of this regime…Don't expect just one more attack," he said on Monday.
 
Relations severed
 
Sudan broke off diplomatic relations with Chad on Sunday, accusing its neighbour of involvement in the previous day's attack.

"We are now cutting our diplomatic relations with this regime," Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, said on state television.

"These forces [behind the attack] are all basically Chadian forces supported and prepared by Chad and they moved from Chad under the leadership of Khalil Ibrahim."
  
But the Chadian government denied "all involvement" .
 
"The government denies all involvement in this adventure which  it condemns unreservedly, regardless of who was responsible," Mahamat Hissene, a government spokesman, said in a statement.

"The Chadian government, which has always supported efforts for  peace in Sudan and in the region, encourages authorities and the  opposition [Sudanese rebels] to maintain the voice of dialogue."
 
The Omdurman incursion was the first time that the conflict raging in western Sudan had reached the capital.
 
The violence in western Sudan has killed thousands and left millions displaced.

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