Southern leader accuses Turabi of removing Christians from ruling party's bodies

Southern Sudanese Lorans Lowal leader accused Hassan Turabi, secretary of the ruling National Congress Party, of making an attempt to remove the Christians from the leadership front and from the other party bodies.

Lowal was the deputy secretary general of the party, but Turabi nominated Almec Core, a southern Moslem leader, instead of Lowal in a meeting of the party's Shura front on Tuesday.

Turabi justified nominating the Moslem leader as aiming to achieve tribal and religious balance among the southern leadership.

Lowal depicted these justifications in published statements yesterday as unconvincing to the southern powers, saying that the ruling National Congress had lost its nationalism.