Khartoum, March 26: Sudan’s President Omar al-Beshir warned on Thursday that making, selling or consuming alcoholic drinks will be punishable amid a prohibition of alcohol in the Sudanese capital.
“Whoever makes, drinks or sells alcoholic drinks in Khartoum will be whipped, regardless of what the United Nations or human rights groups have to say about it,” said Beshir, who is seeking re-election next month.
His comments came in a speech in the capital’s suburb of Um Dawaban, a stronghold of the Sufi Qadariyaa movement.
A peace agreement between Sudan’s predominantly Muslim north and the largely Christian and animist south makes special provision for Christians in the semi-autonomous south.
Shops in Khartoum do not sell alcohol, but rural women who have moved to the capital make an alcoholic concoction out of dates.
Last year Nigerian footballer Stephen Worgu, star player for Sudan’s premier league Al-Merreikh club, was sentenced to 40 lashes for drinking alcohol. He appealed, but there has been no further announcement about his case.
Sudan’s legislative, regional and presidential elections are scheduled for April 11-13.
They will be the first multi-party polls there since 1986. Beshir came to power in 1989 in a military coup.
The prohibition is seen as an attempt to attract more votes in predominately conservative Sudan.
—Agencies