Sudanese newspaper suspended for report on defence forces

KHARTOUM, Sept 30 (AFP) — Judicial authorities have suspended a newspaper indefinitely for publishing a report on Sudan’s Popular Defence Forces that triggered a complaint from the army, the journalists’ union said Tuesday.

Prosecutor for anti-state crimes Mohamed Farid Hassan ordered the suspension of Al-Azminah (Times) daily pending an investigation of the complaint, Sudanese Journalists’ Union secretary general Al Nour Ahmed al-Nour told AFP.

Al-Azminah, whose suspension came into effect Tuesday, reported that the Popular Defence Forces would be dissolved after a peace agreement between Khartoum and southern rebels.

President Omar el-Beshir has said he hopes to reach a final peace settlement with the southern Sudan People’s Liberation Army by the end of this year to end a civil war which broke out in 1983.