Kidnapped Sudan editor beheaded
Pastor Dale Morgan
Kidnapped Sudan editor beheaded*
The beheaded body of a Sudanese newspaper editor has been found on the
outskirts of the capital, Khartoum.
Mohammed Taha ran the al-Wifaq paper and was taken from his home on
Tuesday night by an unknown group of armed men.
Last year, he was put on trial for blasphemy after his pro-government
paper reprinted an article questioning the parentage of the prophet
Muhammad.
The charges were later dropped but if convicted of blasphemy under
Sharia law, he could have been put to death.
The BBC's Jonah Fisher in Khartoum says no-one has claimed
responsibility but suspicion will immediately turn to Sudan's hardline
Islamic groups.
In May last year, thousands of people demonstrated outside a courtroom
in central Khartoum calling for Mr Taha to be put to death.
After several emotionally charged days the case was adjourned and later
quietly dropped.
Our correspondent says the killing of Mr Taha, an ally of Khartoum's
Islamist government, will raise fears that extremist groups are once
again active in Sudan.
Sudan provided a home for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in the 1990s
and the country is still on the United States' list of states sponsoring
terrorism.
Khartoum has been governed by strict Islamic Sharia law since 1983 - but
our correspondent says that in recent years courts have shown a degree
of flexibility in their interpretations of Islamic law.