Double standards
The forcing down of the BOAC VC-10 by the Libyan authorities; the forced removal from that plane of Major Hamadallah and of Lt.-Col el-Nur; the subsequent handing over of these two men to the Sudanese authorities after the revolution with which they were associated had been overcome by the Sudan's President Numeiri; and the subsequent execution of Hamadallah (until last November Minister of the Interior under Numeiri) and of Colonel el-Nur: it all adds up to a nasty little story. I do not suppose we will ever know how many rebels will have been executed in the Sudan during these days; nor will we know what motives, other than ambition, or what spurs, other than foreign cash, pressed the rebels on.
President Numeiri's remark that verdicts reached by his military courts sitting day and night would "tend towards execution, due to the horrifying nature of the crimes committed" is a noteworthy example of the confident new noises of brutality now emerging from emergent Africa. Numeiri himself was held prisoner by the rebels for some time. Presumably they wish they had dealt with him as he has with them. Shoot first, think later is the revolutionary theme most likely to succeed.
Previous page
