Wed, 23:08 28 May 2008 GMT17

 

Sudan closes paper for publishing military details
15 May 2008 09:44:06 GMT
Source: Reuters
KHARTOUM, May 15 (Reuters) - Sudanese security forces have closed a newspaper indefinitely for publishing sensitive military information that might be linked to a rebel attack on Khartoum at the weekend, its managing editor said on Thursday.

The Arabic-language Al-Wan paper has Islamist links, as do the Darfur rebels who attacked Sudan's capital on Saturday.

The paper's managing editor, al-Tayyib Farraj, told Reuters a force from state security came to the paper on Wednesday evening.

"They had a decree to close the paper and confiscate all its possessions," he said.

He did not know which article had caused problems but believed the closure could be related to an article on a missing fighter jet which had been published after the attack.

Farraj complained that the closure was unfair because censors had read the paper before it was published. Strict censorship laws were reintroduced several months ago.

"For months we have daily censorship and our paper doesn't go to the printing press without them reading it first," he said, adding any objections should have been voiced then.

Editor-in-Chief Hussein Khojali was summoned for questioning by security services on Thursday.

Rights groups have voiced concern at mass arrests of Darfuris in Khartoum following Saturday's attack which killed more than 200 people and exposed the vulnerability of the capital.

On Tuesday, another journalist was summoned, held overnight and questioned over telephone calls with the Darfur rebel Justice and Equality Movement. JEM have a strong media arm and often call journalists with information. (Reporting by Opheera McDoom; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)
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Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) soldiers gather outside a U.N. base in Abyei May 16, 2008. Talks took place between the southern SPLA and commanders from the northern Sudanese Armed Forces ...



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