A prestigious pro- government newspaper in Sudan has been closed down after it’s editor pub
lished his wish for a senior official from the south of the country to be killed because of his objection to non- Muslims being subjected to sharia law.
The editor, Isaac Ahmed Fadlallah, of newspaper Al- Wifaq, clashed with Yasir Arman from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement after his remarks, particularly on flogging as a punishment for adultery, which he felt non- Muslims should not be punished under even though Islamic law has been imposed across the whole of Sudan since 1983.
Northern Sudan is mainly Muslim while the South is mainly Christian or aminist and tensions over this as well as over disputed boundary areas with oil reserves are rife.
The newspaper is somewhat Islamist driven with close ties to President Omar Hassan al- Bashir’s National Congress party and it’s closure is said to have been brought on by General Sallah Mohammed, head of the Sudanese National Security and Intelligence apparatus.
The editor, who previously wrote for al-Ra’ed, another pro- government paper, is being asked to refrain from writing. Closure for the newspaper is a deserved punishment.
