KHARTOUM, 15 April 2005 — A Sudanese court sentenced 23 mostly military personnel to between five and 15 years in prison for attempting a coup, the attorney general said yesterday. “The court issued judgments on 23 people for between five to 15 years” Mohamed Farid told Reuters.
He said two-thirds of the accused were from Hassan Al-Turabi’s opposition Popular Congress Party. One was a policeman, two were retired police and security officials and the rest were from the army, Farid said.
The 23 were convicted of violating the constitution and waging war on the state, charges for which the maximum punishment is death.
Turabi is still in jail held under emergency law but no charges have been brought against him. He was arrested after the March 2004 coup attempt. State officials have said Turabi was linked to a similar coup attempt in September 2004.
Zoellick’s Visit
Sudan said yesterday it was doing all it could to stem violence in Darfur as US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick visited Khartoum to pile on pressure backed by huge aid pledges.
“We are working diligently to stop the violence, not only to stop the violence but to resolve the conflict through political negotiations and get Darfur back to normalcy,” First Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha told reporters.
He later held talks with Zoellick, who is on a two-day visit to Africa’s largest country to keep up pressure on Sudan to implement a North-South peace deal and end killings in Darfur.
Taha often has made such statements about Darfur but reports from regional aid workers say Sudan has failed to deliver.
Donors exceeded Sudan’s aid requests Tuesday by pledging $4.5 billion at an international conference in Oslo to help the south recover from Africa’s longest civil war.
The United States, with a pledge of $1.7 billion, is the largest donor and Zoellick has made clear aid could be halted if Khartoum does not act on Darfur, which he said cast a shadow over the country’s future.
Zoellick also met leaders of the former Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), who in January signed an agreement with the government ending two decades of war in the south.
Today, he travels to Rumbek, the temporary southern capital, for talks with SPLM chairman John Garang. He will then visit El Fasher camp, where thousands of Darfur’s internally displaced people are being housed.
