**We apologise for any cross-posting - The following is being forwarded exactly
as received**

To: IFEX Autolist (other news of interest)
From: World Association of Newspapers (WAN), [email protected]

The Right Honourable Abdel Rahim Mohamed Husein
Interior Minister
Khartoum, Sudan
c/o Permanent Representative to UN
Email: [email protected]

3 January 2003

Dear Minister,

We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the World
Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications in 100 countries, to express
our serious concern at the closure of the independent daily newspaper Al Watan
and the censoring of two others.

According to reports, the director-general of the internal security police
ordered Al Watan to shut down on 28 December along with its publishing company,
Compagnie de la Corne de l'Afrique. State security officials reportedly burst
into the newspaper's offices and ordered staff to leave.

On 30 December, the internal security office issued a statement justifying the
action because the newspaper had printed 'scores of articles on alleged
corruption without providing substantive material to support them . The articles
were printed to defame and tarnish the reputation of government institutions and
individuals'. The closure was carried out under national security and state of
emergency regulations.

Two other dailies, Al Horriya and As Sahafa, failed to appear on 28 December
after state security officials warned them that if they published their editions
would be seized. As Sahafa editor Nureddin Madani and publisher Rabie Hamid were
summoned for questioning after printing a statement on 27 December by the banned
Popular National Congress Party. The statement criticised the government's
one-year renewal of the state of emergency. Saadeddine Ibrahim, Al Horriya's
editor-in-chief, was summoned about an article that accused the government of
selling off the country's assets and embezzlement.

The authorities censored independent newspapers more than a dozen times in 2002
for their coverage of topics including circumcision, AIDS, peace talks with the
rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army and internal government power struggles.

We respectfully remind you that the closure of Al Watan and the censorship of Al
Horriya and As Sahafa constitutes a clear breach of the right to freedom of
expression, which is guaranteed by numerous international agreements, including
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 19 of the Declaration states:
'Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right
includes the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive
and impart information and ideas through any media, regardless of frontiers.'

We respectfully call on you to ensure that the order closing Al Watan is
immediately reversed and that all newspapers are permitted to publish without
state interference. We urge you to do everything possible to ensure that in
future your country fully respects international standards of freedom of
expression.

We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Seok Hyun Hong
President
World Association of Newspapers

Gloria Brown Anderson
President
World Editors Forum

**The information contained in this autolist item is the sole responsibility of
WAN**