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September 8, 2006

Sudan: While Islamists Behead Journalist, National Tensions Rise

The man pictured at left is Mohammed Taha Mohammed Ahmed, a journalist who edited the privately-owned al-Wifaq newspaper. He was kidnapped earlier this week from his home in Khartoum and on Wednesday (Sept 6) his decapitated body was discovered on a dirt road. His head lay beside his body, and his hands had been tied behind his back.

Taha was buried yesterday at a funeral attended by hundreds, including government ministers, but the real reasons for the journalist's death may not be as simple as they have been portrayed in the media. Politics may have played a part in his death.

Mr Taha had been accused of blasphemy last year, after he published a series of articles which questioned the "roots" of Mohammed, founder of Islam. As a result, his paper was closed down for three months and Taha was arrested, spending some time in jail. He was made to pay a fine of $3,000 for blasphemy, states the Washington Post, but according to Afrol.com, all blasphemy charges against him had been dropped.

Islamists appear to have been the perpetrators. Six months ago, the offices of al-Wifaq were burned, states Afrol, and since then Taha himself complained that he had been threatened by Islamists.

South Africa's Independent quoted Khartoum's police chief Major General Mohamed Naguib al-Taye, who said a number of suspects had been arrested.

Taha himself had been closely linked to the Islamist government of Omar Hassan al-Bashir when it came to power in a 1989 coup, and he is said to have been close to the Muslim Brotherhood. But recently his good relations with the government have soured. In the late 1990s, after he wrote an article criticising the ruling National Congress Party, Taha narrowly escaped an assassination attempt.

More recently, the editor had also inflamed the anger of the rebels in Darfur, after his paper published articles criticising him.

Journalist Sabah Mohamed al-Hassan has said of the murder: "The circumstances are very murky. This is the first time we see something like this in the history of this country."

A week ago, on Thursday August 31, the UN Security Council passed a resolution. This announced that 20,000 troops and police would be deployed by the years' end. An earlier agreement had been due to run out by the end of September, and the decision to continue sending troops into Sudan, particularly into the troubled region of Darfur, has angered Islamists in the country.

Newspapers in Sudan such as Sudan Vision and al-Watan have condemned the killing of Taha, and have expressed concern that the killing signals a new direction in political violence.

Today, Sudan Tribune quotes from Alex Vines, Africa analyst at Chatham House (Royal Institute of International Affairs), the London-based research group, who said: "The Sudanese government is not monolithic... it is likely that this is indicative of factionalism. There may have been individuals in the government (involved)."

Hafiz Mohamed of the Justice Africa research institute said: "Violence against political opponents with this government is not new."

Opheera McDoom, writing in Reuters AlertNet yesterday noted that since the government had rejected the Security Council decision, the government had begun a crackdown on internal dissent, and has called for the nation to be united against the "external threat".

There has been a resurgence of censorship of newspapers, and hardline Islamists have allied themselves with the government in opposing UN forces in Darfur.

Prices have risen, and when protests about these took place on Wednesday, police used teargas and batons to disperse people. Many were arrested, and 53 were held overnight. 10 people who appeared in court were arrested. Two of these were members of the opposition Umma party, led by Sadiq al-Mahdi.

Yesterday, the United Nations Mission in Sudan reported that there have been increased attacks upon civilians, aid workers and African Union staff members over the past few days.

Near Nyala in South Darfur, women and children gathering firewood were attacked by men on horseback. There have been protests by civilians against the Security Council Resolution.

The killing of Mohammed Taha Mohammed Ahmed may have been the actions of Islamists acting on their own initiative, but the government of al-Bashir, which has supported atrocities against opponents and civilians alike since it came to power, including supporting the Janjaweed who created the Darfur crisis, is not to be trusted. The situation in Sudan seems to be developing every day into a state of crisis.

In separate news, a US journalist from the Chicago Tribune, Paul Salopek, who was arrested for entering Sudan without a visa is to be freed according to a statement made by President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. Originally, Mr Salopek had been accused of being a "spy".

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at September 8, 2006 5:44 PM

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