Sudan confiscates 15,000 copies of opposition coomunist paper

August 28, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese authorities confiscated 15,000 copies of an opposition newspaper with ties to Sudan’s communist party, the weekly’s editor said on Tuesday.

Tigani al-Tayib, editor of the al-Midan paper, said national security officials had confiscated all copies of the paper ahead of distribution on Tuesday morning and did not give a reason.

“We still don’t know why they took it. … There was a headline New arrests in Kajbar’ but we don’t know if that was the reason or if there was some other reason,” he said.

Sudan’s national security was not immediately available for comment. Sudan has banned all reporting on Kajbar.

In June police fired live rounds of tear gas on Sudanese protesting against plans to build a new dam in Kajbar in northern Sudan, killing four people and injuring others.

Security held 10 journalists and lawyers, some for almost two months without charge, after they reported on or tried to visit Kajbar. All but one have been released.

“This is due to direct censorship,” said Faysal el-Bagir, legal adviser to the paper, adding that it was the first time the paper, running since April, had been censored.

“The government is against all opposition,” Tayib said, adding the newspaper is linked to Sudan’s communist party, which has been operating openly in Sudan for the last two years.

Other political leaders said this month they were concerned authorities were targeting opposition parties ahead of elections due by the end of 2009.

“If we are going to be a democracy then laws like freedom of the press and freedom of expression need to be enforced,” Tayib said.

(Reuters)