Darfur rebel leader vows more attacks on Khartoum

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"This is just the start of a process and the end is the termination of this regime," Ibrahim, whose Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) attacked Khartoum at the weekend, said in a satellite phone call. "Don't expect just one more attack."

Ibrahim said he was speaking from Omdurman, the western Khartoum suburb where the attack occurred - just across the Nile river from the heart of the capital.

Government officials have said the last rebels fled the area on Sunday evening, and no independent verification of Ibrahim's statement about his whereabouts was immediately available.

The weekend attack, which Sudan says was supported by neighbouring Chad, was the first time fighting had reached the capital in decades of conflict between the traditionally Arab-dominated central government and rebels from far-flung regions in the oil-producing nation - Africa's biggest country.

President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's government arrested Islamist opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi and at least four other top members of his party on Monday, aides said.

JEM also has an Islamist agenda and some of its leaders were allies of Turabi in the past, but he denies backing the rebels.

Turabi's son said security forces arrested his father at his home about an hour after returning from a conference of his Popular Congress Party (PCP) in nearby Sennar state.

"They want to blame the party for what has happened," said Siddig al-Turabi. About 65 people were believed to have been killed in the Khartoum attack.

Seven heavily armed vehicles surrounded the PCP head quarters on Monday, a witness said. Party officials said more members were being arrested.

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