Sudan security seize newspaper

AFP , Sunday 7 Aug 2011

In the latest wave of tightening press freedom in Sudan, Al-Ahdath newspaper is barred from distribution

Sudanese security forces on Sunday seized all the copies of Al-Ahdath newspaper from the printers, its editor in chief said, in the latest sign of a clampdown on independent media in Khartoum.

"The security forces came to the printers and they took all the copies of the newspaper, without giving an explanation," Adil al-Baz told AFP.

The newspaper was running a series of articles this month, called "The days of Carlos in Khartoum," about the notorious international terrorist "Carlos the Jackal."

Carlos -- a Venezuelan whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez -- was seized in Sudan in murky circumstances in 1994.

It is not the first time the paper has been barred from distribution.

But Sudan has experienced a tightening of press freedom in the wake of South Sudan's secession last month.

Several newspapers with links to the south were closed, including the popular Arabic daily Ajras al-Hurriya, and numerous journalists are on trial for reporting the alleged rape of a female opposition activist by security forces.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders has accused the Sudanese authorities of harassing and prosecuting journalists in a bid to stop them making embarrassing revelations about human rights violations.

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