SUDAN CONDEMNS LEADING DARFUR REBEL TO DEATH

a Sudanese court sentenced a top Darfur rebel and seven others to death, bringing to 38 the number condemned to hang over an unprecedented attack on Khartoum that killed more than 222 people. Abdul Aziz Ashur, brother-in-law of Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) leader Khalil Ibrahim, and seven alleged cohorts were sentenced to hang. The judge handed down the death sentence after declaring them guilty under Sudanese criminal and counter-terrorism legislation of involvement in the May attack on Khartoum. He gave them two weeks to appeal. Defence lawyer Kemal Omar dismissed the court as a political entity and charged that the sentences would complicate efforts to find a solution to the five-year conflict in the western region of Darfur.
"We will appeal this decision but our appeal will have no meaning. The Sudanese judge is not independent," he told AFP.