Man throws shoe at Sudanese president Al Bashir

Khartoum: A man threw his shoe at Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al Bashir in a public conference in Khartoum on Monday, a particularly insulting action in Arab culture, witnesses said.

They said the unidentified man was swiftly detained by about 10 presidential guards although the projectile missed Al Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in the western Darfur region.

It was not immediately clear why the man hurled his shoe.

The presidency denied any shoe was thrown and said the man was stopped by security while carrying an envelope he wanted to deliver to Al Bashir.

In Arab culture, it is rude even to show the sole of your shoe to a colleague and shoes are left at the doors of mosques.

Former US President George W. Bush was subjected to the same insult in Iraq in 2008 when an Iraqi journalist threw both his shoes at him.

"The man was close to the podium and threw the shoe but it didn't reach him," said one witness, saying the incident appeared to shock the dozens of officials gathered for the conference on strategic planning for governing Sudan.

Three witnesses who had been inside the Friendship Hall in Khartoum, all of whom asked not to be named, confirmed the incident. They said the man was in his late 40s or early 50s, was dressed smartly and said nothing.

"He seemed calm, even after he was arrested," said another witness.

Witnesses said journalists at the event had recording equipment and cameras taken from them by security after the incident.

Asked for comment, presidential spokesman Emad Sid Ahmad denied the incident, saying: "The man just wanted to give the president a note... but was intercepted by the security."

Reuters Sudan's former prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi, who President Omar al-Beshir ousted in a military coup 20 years ago, will run against him in the April elections, his party said on Monday.

Mahdi, 74, heads the influential Umma opposition party and is spiritual leader of "Ansar," a Sufi brotherhood that venerates the famous Mahdi who defeated British colonial forces under General Gordon in 1885.

"He has been nominated presidential candidate," an Umma party official told AFP.

Descended from Sudan's legendary Islamist ruler, Sadiq al-Mahdi has held the premiership twice before, in 1966-67 when he was just 30, and again after his party won Sudan's last multi-party elections in 1986.

Umma is the main opposition party in the north, alongside the Democratic Unionist Party, while Beshir heads the ruling National Congress Party.