KHARTOUM, Sudan, July 12 (UPI) -- A former ally of the president of Sudan tells the BBC he has no great hopes for the country's new constitution and government.
Hassan al-Turabi had been imprisoned for an unsuccessful coup and was released two weeks ago. Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir recently signed a constitution that makes southern Sudan a semi-autonomous region.
John Garang, an Army officer turned rebel leader, became a vice president with authority in the south.
Turabi told the BBC Garang will be squeezed between two northerners. He said the Khartoum government should have included a vice president from the Darfur region in the west, which has been devastated by genocidal war.
"The country is now in trouble and we have many neighbors," Turabi said. "The trouble is over spilling into our nine neighbors."
Turabi said his National Congress Party bridges the divide between Sudan's Muslim north and Christian south.
