NIF influence within the government was evident in its policies and in the presence of several NIF members in the cabinet. Alleged abuses Alleged human rights abuses by the NIF regime included war crimes, ethnic cleansing, a revival of slavery, torture of opponents, and an unprecedented number of refugees fleeing into Uganda, Kenya, Eritrea, Egypt, Europe and North America. In 1994 a report issued by Human Rights Watch/Africa, conducted by Gáspár Bíró, a Hungarian law professor and the United Nations' special envoy to Sudan in 1993 found the Sudanese government to be practicing "widespread and systematic torture" of political detainees.Once uncommon in the Sudan, torture was now widespread, especially in the south. Non-Muslim women were raped, their children taken from them; paper bags filled with chili powder were placed over men's heads, and some were tied to anthills; testicles were crushed and burned by cigarettes and electric current, according to a 1994 report by Human Rights Watch/Africa. Karate attack on al-Turabi in Ottawa A Sudanese Karate Black belt master, Hashim Bedreddin Mohammed, attacked al-Turabi by using two knifehand strikes to knock down Turabi, whose head struck the pavement, unconscious into a coma, at an Ottawa airport in Canada on 26 May 1992. Hashim was a Sufi in exile and an opponent of the National Islamic Front Islamist regime in Sudan and had won a karate world championship in 1983. He attacked al-Turabi in a rage when he saw him. A Somali man pushed Hashim away with a trolley which weakened the blow that could have otherwise killed al-Turabi. Al-Turabi was hospitalized for 4 weeks with constant black outs. After al-Turabi was knocked out, Hashim assumed he was dead and departed. Al-Turabi suffered from severe injuries, the use of his right arm was lost for a while, he had slurred speech and he required the use of a cane. Hashim was supported by exiled Sudanese in Canada who launched the "Friends of Hashim Campaign" to support his attack on al-Turabi. One said "most Sudanese would appreciate what Hashim did". They called for an end to Islamist policies and a return to secularism. Links to militant groups Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden moved his base of operations to Sudan from Saudi Arabia around 1991 reportedly at the personal invitation of Al-Turabi, and stayed until 1996 when he moved to Afghanistan. Bin Laden moved to Sudan after conflict with the Saudi government over