Crowds demand death for editor

2005-05-06 14:26

Khartoum - Scores of Sudanese gathered on Thursday in front of a courthouse to demand a death sentence for the editor of a daily newspaper who is accused of insulting Islam's prophet.

Mohamed Taha Mohamed Ahmed, editor of the independent and pro-Islamist Al Wifaq, is standing trial for republishing an article from the Internet that questioned the parentage of the Prophet Muhammad.

The newspaper has been suspended for three days. Ahmed refuted the charges and apologised in a letter to the press.

Police filled the area around the courthouse early on Thursday in anticipation of the crowds. Hundreds of people gathered by mid-afternoon.

"Death for the faseq!" many chanted, using the Arabic word for a deviant Muslim.

"A faseq shall not be asked to repent, but be killed right away," one man shouted.

One group of Islamists carried a banner reading, "Attending the trial is a way of expressing your support for the prophet."

Blasphemy and insulting Islam can bring the death penalty in Sudan, which has been governed by strict Islamic Sharia law since 1983.

In a letter of apology published on Thursday by the official Sudan Media Center, Ahmed said he had written three articles in response to the issue and defended the prophet.

"Despite this it was misunderstood that my paper's republishing of this article was an offense on the person of the prophet, God forbid," Taha wrote.

"I'm writing this apology in the hope that they will forgive and pray for me, and I swear by God that I meant well," Taha said.

The letter was aimed at decreasing the rising tension before the Friday prayers, when prayer leaders would likely take up the issue.

- AP