Sudan constitution to be "100 percent Islamic" - Bashir
Sat Jul 7, 2012 9:55pm GMT
* Mostly non-Muslim South Sudan seceded a year ago
* Islamic law may be implemented more strictly
* Bashir faces small protests demanding his resignation
KHARTOUM, July 7 (Reuters) - President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said on
Saturday Sudan's next constitution would be "100 percent Islamic" to set an
example for neighbouring countries, some of which have seen religious
parties gain power after popular uprisings.
The secession of mostly non-Muslim South Sudan a year ago sparked
predictions that Sudan, which hosted former al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden
in the 1990s, would start implementing Islamic law more strictly.
In a speech to leaders of the mystical Islamic Sufi tradition in Khartoum,
Bashir suggested Sudan's new, post-secession constitution could help guide
the region's political transformation.
"We want to present a constitution that serves as a template to those around
us. And our template is clear, a 100 percent Islamic constitution, without
communism or secularism or Western (influences)," said Bashir.
"And we tell non-Muslims, nothing will preserve your rights except for
Islamic sharia because it is just," he said.
Bashir, facing small-scale protests calling for him to step down, said a
committee made up of "all parties, religious sects and Sufis" would be set
up to draft a constitution.
That appeared to be a move to assuage resentment by other opposition parties
- many of which are still dominated by Islamist figures - over Bashir's
reluctance to loosen the grip of the ruling National Congress Party.
He did not give a date for the new constitution.
Following the 1989 coup that brought Bashir to power, Sudan introduced laws
that took sharia as their main source.
Already, floggings are a common punishment in Sudan for crimes like drinking
alcohol and adultery.
Sentences of stoning are rare, although in May a Sudanese woman was
sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, sparking condemnation from human
rights lawyers. Similar sentences in the past have not been carried out.
Bashir has been in power for the last 23 years and is one of Africa's
longest-serving leaders. He is wanted by the International Criminal Court
for war crimes in Darfur, charges the government says are politically
motivated and baseless.
Sudan's opposition parties have called for strikes, sit-ins and
demonstrations to topple Bashir's government, throwing their weight behind
recent anti-austerity protests, which have also involved calls for greater
freedoms.
However, they have not yet sent their supporters out to the streets.
(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by Ralph
Gowling)
KHARTOUM, July 6 (Reuters) - Rebels killed a Sudanese state official and
seven other people in the oil-producing border state of South Kordofan, the
state news agency said on Friday, the most senior official to be killed
since fighting began in the region a year ago.
Sudan's border regions with South Sudan have been mired in violence since
the southern nation seceded a year ago under a 2005 peace deal that ended
decades of civil war.
Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes in South Kordofan and
nearby Blue Nile state since the fighting broke out, the United Nations has
said.
The state SUNA news agency said Ibrahim Balandiya, South Kordofan's
parliament speaker, was attacked between two villages in the region. Another
state official, three drivers and a photographer were among those killed,
SUNA added, in an attack it blamed on "remnants of the popular army".
SUNA was referring to rebels from the Sudan People's Liberation
Movement-North (SPLM-N), who were not immediately available for comment.
The SPLM-N fighters in South Kordofan are among tens of thousands who sided
with the South against Khartoum during Sudan's civil war, but were left
north of the border under the peace pact.
Last year, the insurgents formed an alliance with other rebels in Sudan's
western Darfur region with the aim of toppling the government of President
Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who is facing an upsurge in popular protests.
The rebels say their border regions have been left underdeveloped and
marginalised by an Arab elite in Khartoum.
Sudan has said it is determined to restore order to the territories and
accuses its old foe South Sudan of backing the insurgents, something Juba
denies. (Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
