Daily subjected to prior censorship

In a letter addressed to Interior minister Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein, Reporters Sans Frontières (Reporters Without Borders -RSF) protested against the prior censorship to which the daily Alwan is subjected from now on. "That measure totally contradicts the press freedom and freedom of expression guaranteed by article 25 of the constitution of the Sudanese Republic", stated Robert Ménard, general secretary of the organisation. "We ask you to cancel that decision", he added. According to the information gathered by RSF, the security forces raided into the premises of the daily Alwan on February 2. The officers seized four pages that were to appear in the edition of February 3. From now on, the newspaper is subjected to prior censorship. Already on 2 October 2001 the national press Council had suspended the daily for 24 hours. The reason put forward was the publication of articles regarded as "libellous".