Sudan sentences 14 to death for arson in turbulent western province

KHARTOUM, Oct 16 (AFP) — Thirteen men and one woman have been sentenced to death by hanging for burning villages and killing two people in western Sudan, a Sudanese daily reported Thursday.

A special tribunal in Al Fashir, north Darfur, found 14 Arab assailants guilty of burning two villages and killing two members of the non-Arab Fur tribe in South Darfur State last year, Al Rai Al Aam said.

The 14 were sentenced to death by hanging, the daily said.

The woman, Mariam Azraq Haroun, a tribal singer, was convicted of inciting the attackers, who were dressed in military uniforms during the operation, the daily said.

Khartoum has long neglected the development of Darfur, a semi-desert region near the Chad border, which has since February been subject to attacks of a rebellion chiefly by non-Arab tribes, diplomatic sources said.