Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir has vowed to punish anyone involved in a failed coup "without softness," the Sudanese English-language newspaper Khartoum Monitor reported on Saturday.

The president was quoted as saying there was a plot to capture power in Sudan regardless of what happens to the people.

"We shall fulfill all our duties towards homeland and defend the rights of the Sudanese people," Bashir noted.

The president added "there is a true conspiracy against Sudan through the use of sedition, alleged racial cleansing and genocide."

Sudanese First Vice President Ali Othman Taha denied reports that the government intends to release Hassan Turabi, the leader of the Popular Congress party (PC).

Taha was quoted by the Sudanese Arabic-language newspaper Rayaam as saying that Turabi would be kept in custody until investigation is done over his case.

"The court will make its own decision according to the law without any interventions," Taha added.

The Sudanese Interior Ministry announced in a statement on Friday that its security forces foiled a plot by Islamists to overthrow the government.

The statement said some PC elements planned to carry out the plot Friday afternoon and to assassinate dozens of the state leaders.

Most of the persons involved in the plot, including two army officers, have been arrested by the security forces, the statement said.

The PC has been suspended in the country since April, when it was accused of inciting tribal tensions in the troubled western region of Darfur.

Its leader Turabi, a former mentor of Bashir, was arrested at that time and is facing charges such as incitement to sedition and subversion of the current regime.