Darfur rebels sentenced to death for Khartoum attack

By Khalid Abdel Aziz

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - A Sudanese court on Wednesday sentenced to death 10 members of the Darfur rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) for an unprecedented 2008 attack on the Sudanese capital.

The men were found guilty of involvement in the attack on the Khartoum suburb of Omdurman in May 2008. Three others were acquitted and will be freed, the court said.

After the sentence was announced, the men raised their shackled hands and shouted in unison "Allah Akbar" (God is great) and "Revolution until victory".

The men were found guilty of 12 charges, including treason, violence against the state and illegal possession of weapons. The group has seven days to appeal the decision.

The sitting judge rejected requests for leniency from their lawyers.

More than 200 people were killed and hundreds injured when JEM launched the shock attack.

The rebels drove across hundreds of miles of desert and scrubland to reach the capital and were only repelled at a bridge a few kilometres away from the presidential palace.

Some 50 JEM members have previously been sentenced to death for the attacks. None have yet been executed.

The court was specially created to try JEM members involved in the attack. (Writing by Alastair Sharp)