Among the opposition politicians and army officers detained is Hassan al-Turabi, leader of the Popular Congress Party (PCP) and former ally of President Omar al-Bashir. Before he was taken into custody, Al-Turabi denied claims that his party was conspiring to overthrow the government. He said Khartoum fabricated the allegations to prepare the ground for his arrest and the banning of the PCP. Al-Turabi was long regarded as the chief Islamist ideologue of Bashir's regime. However, the two men fell out in 2001 after Al-Turabi was arrested for signing a memorandum of understanding with the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army and was detained under house arrest until last October. In November, Vice President Ali Uthman Mohammed Taha accused the PCP of inciting violence in the Darfur region, which has been blighted by civil war between two rebel movements and the government army for over a year. Peace talks between the rebel groups - the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equity Movement - and Khartoum were due to take place in Chad, but both sides have so far failed to turn up.