7 Sudan officers jailed over coup plot walk free

Seven Sudanese military officers convicted and jailed over a coup attempt walked free on Wednesday, just days after they were sentenced, an AFP reporter witnessed. The seven converged on the home of Brigadier Mohammed Ibrahim, who had received the heaviest sentence of five years in prison. Wearing civilian clothes and shouting "Allahu akbar" (God is greatest), Ibrahim and the others were greeted by hundreds of supporters, relatives and neighbours as celebratory gunfire sounded. It was not immediately clear why they were released early but they had requested a presidential pardon on April 9, two days after their sentencing. The officers could potentially have been executed for the case which analysts say reflects political struggle within the 24-year regime of President Omar al-Bashir, who himself took power in a coup. A military court ordered the soldiers dismissed from the military and issued sentences ranging from two to five years in prison for the plot. They asked Bashir to pardon them as "political prisoners" under a wide-ranging amnesty which he announced early this month, the army said. "Now we are free and the case is finished for us," Ibrahim said in brief comments after revellers slaughtered four sheep and hoisted the smiling officers on their shoulders. The army originally said 11 officers were convicted but one of the defence lawyers gave the total as nine. Two colonels had already been released in recent days, a regional political expert said. The soldiers were found guilty of "attempting to undermine the constitutional and security system and threaten the country's unity and harm the armed forces by the use of force," the army has said. Officials gave only vague details about the November plot which analysts said was linked to hardcore Islamist officers who had once firmly backed the regime. Ibrahim played a role in the 1989 coup that brought to power Bashir's government, which describes itself as Islamist. "I thank Sudanese people and SAF... We are seeking reform and we hope the country will reform and the people of the country will be united," the freed officer said. Magdi El Gizouli, a fellow at the Rift Valley Institute, had expected a pardon for at least some of the soldiers, whose goal he said is to replace Defence Minister Abdelrahim Mohammed Hussein and assume other key security roles. Most of the detainees are close to a vocal group of veterans of the 1983-2005 civil war with the now independent south, and an elite group of volunteer mujahedeen fighters among them called Al-Saihun or "tourists for the sake of God". Along with a youth movement within the ruling National Congress Party, the war veterans have called for new national leadership and a return to Islamic values because they said the government is tainted by corruption. The accused plotters were detained without any shots being fired. Authorities also arrested Salah Gosh, who served as national intelligence chief until 2009. His case has not yet been dealt with. Sudan has experienced at least seven coups or attempted coups in its 57 years of independence. There has been some easing of tension since early March when Sudan and South Sudan finally settled on detailed timetables to implement crucial economic and security pacts, after months of intermittent border clashes. Bashir then said he would free all political prisoners, but only 11 are known to have been released, in addition to the army officers.