afrol News, 18 August - Sudanese court has sentenced to death two senior members of a Darfur rebel group and six others for their role in an attack in Khartoum in May, court officials said. The conviction brings number to 38 of those condemned to hang since trials began.

Top rebel, Abdul Aziz Ashur, half brother of Khalil Ibrahim, leader of a rebel group, Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), in Darfur, and others were sentenced after a trial that began on 3 July.

According to Defence lawyer Kamal al-Jazouli, Mr Ushar was arrested days after the daring 10 May attack by JEM on the outskirts of Khartoum, where more than 200 people were killed.

It was the closest Darfur rebels have ever come to capital, hundreds of kilometres from their base in the far west of the country. The attack shocked government, challenged for the first time by a Darfur rebel group at the center of its power.

The judge declared the eight guilty under Sudanese criminal and counter-terrorism law, giving them two weeks to appeal.

Defense lawyers argue that special Sudanese courts are unconstitutional and do not guarantee their clients' legal rights.

One lawyer, Kemal Omar, dismissed the court as a political entity and said sentences would complicate efforts to find a solution to five-year conflict in western region of Darfur.

United Nations has also voiced concern over trials, calling for comprehensive appeal procedures and for the government to abolish capital punishment.

The charges against defendants included waging war against state and illicit use of weapons. Another 20 still await a verdict on Wednesday in the same case.

Mr Ashur joined rebel Justice and Equality Movement in 2003 and led its operations in Eritrea until 2005, when Sudanese-Eritrean relations improved after a peace agreement between north and south Sudan ended 21 years of civil war.

The conflict in Darfur erupted in 2003 when ethnic Africans in western Sudan took up arms against central government in Khartoum, accusing it of marginalization and monopolizing resources. As many as 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced since the violence began.

By staff writer

© afrol News

Related pages and feature

Current afrol News Top Stories