Four largely related stories from today (updated to add the one from VOA):
(See also, most recently, yesterday's from Reuters.)
From Reuters...
Sudanese authorities confiscated 17,000 copies of the opposition al-Rai al-Shaab daily on Tuesday for violating a ban on reporting about a thwarted plot to attack Western embassies in Khartoum.
Sudan found three arms caches in the capital last week, and Foreign Ministry officials told the heads of the U.S., U.N., French and British missions in Sudan that they were the targets of plots involving "primitive" bombs.
Al-Rai al-Shaab's Ashraf Mohamed said [that] security had called the editor in chief on Friday to say [that] all reporting on the plots was banned, because it would damage the investigation.
The paper is allied to the opposition Popular Congress Party, led by Islamist Hassan al-Turabi.
"On Sunday the paper printed comments by the interior minister on the explosives, and they (security) went to the printing press and took the article out, even though all the other papers printed the same comments that day," Mohamed told Reuters.
He said [that] on Tuesday the paper had an article explaining that it was the only publication banned from printing the interior minister's comments. [My hunch is that this refers to Tuesday's edition having the explanation, not to him saying this today. - EJM]
"They went to the printing press and took all 17,000 copies of the paper," he said, adding, "We are being targeted."
Security officials were not immediately available to comment.
"Security is waging an economic war against us -- they have ordered all institutions and companies not to give us advertisements," Mohamed said.
Sudanese papers make most of their revenue from adverts.
From AFP, reprinted on Sudan.Net...
Sudanese security forces were on Tuesday hunting for two suspects believed to have been plotting to blow up the American, British, and French embassies in Khartoum.
Eight people have already been detained, along with guns and explosives, for the alleged plot, which reportedly also targeted the United Nations mission in the Sudanese capital.
The British embassy was closed until further notice on Sunday, and the [UK] foreign office has issued a travel warning against all but essential travel to Khartoum.
"The enquiry is continuing," Sudanese foreign-ministry spokesman Ali al-Sadeq told AFP. He declined to elaborate on the identities of the two wanted men. Sudanese authorities have passed intelligence on the plot to the British embassy, the government-backed Sudan Media Centre quoted Sadeq as saying.
The information was on "sabotage attempts expected to target the British and other Western embassies, based on security reports following the arrest of suspects involved in preparation of explosives," Sadeq said.
Sudanese officials have also met with the heads of mission from France, Britain, the UN and [the] US [in order] to brief them on recent developments, the Sudan Media Centre said.
Sudanese police last week announced the arrest 20 young Islamist extremists, along with stores of guns and explosives, and accused them of trying to topple the regime.
It was not immediately known if the two series of arrests were connected.
By David Blair of the UK's "Telegraph"...
Britain's embassy in Sudan was closed yesterday [apparently Monday] and expatriates [were] warned to be on their guard after security forces foiled a plot to attack the heavily guarded building in Khartoum.
Eight Sudanese men were arrested in connection with the planned attack. Three stocks of explosives and grenades were uncovered in Khartoum.
A [UK] Foreign Office spokesman confirmed that the embassy was the group's proposed target. Attacks on the American and French embassies and the office of the United Nations envoy in Sudan are also believed to have been planned.
"We have amended our travel advice to advise against all but essential travel to Khartoum," said the spokesman.
The British embassy has closed its doors until further notice, and consular wardens are believed to have contacted expatriates [in order] to warn them to take security precautions.
Sudan's regime hosted Osama bin Laden in Khartoum between 1991 and 1996.
Although the regime eventually expelled him, and began co-operating with the West in the war on terrorism, al-Qa'eda still has a presence in Sudan.
President Omar al-Bashir has accused Britain and America repeatedly of plotting to "re-colonise" his country, using the war in Darfur as a pretext. But this plot was foiled by the regime's security forces.
From VOA...
The British Embassy in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, remained closed to the public [on] Tuesday following reported threats to Western interests there. Arjun Kohli has more on the story from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi.
British expatriates in Khartoum have been told to be on their guard, following terrorist threats against Western individuals and institutions. The British Embassy issued a warning to all its nationals, and has closed its embassy to the public for the past three days.
A spokeswoman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, who did not want to be named, says [that] Western interests, including British official interests, may be targeted.
"We were advised of the threat of terrorist attacks in Khartoum and the fact that western interests, including British official interests, may have been targeted," she said. "We never discuss where intelligence matters come from, and on this occasion, I cannot confirm whether it came from the Sudanese government or not. The threat was against Western interests, so that would have covered potentially other western embassies in Khartoum."
Last week eight Sudanese men were arrested on charges of stockpiling explosives and grenades in an underground bunker. British press reports have commented on potential links between the arrests and the terror threats, but statements from Sudan's ministry of the interior downplay links between the men and internationally supported terrorist activity.
Rather, they say [that] the munitions [that] they found are a symptom of a more-general arms problem in Sudan and the Horn of Africa.
The British embassy estimates [that] 1,300 Britons live in Sudan, with 2,500 dual nationals.
Sudan's government hosted Osama bin Laden in Khartoum between 1991 and 1996. Although it eventually expelled him and began co-operating with the West in the war on terrorism, there are reports that al-Qaida still has a presence in Sudan.
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