South Kordofan officials killed in ambush

Chairman of the Legislative Council of South Kordofan state, Ibrahim Mohammed Balandiya and secretary-general of the Council of  Strategic Planning, Dr Faisal Bashir and six other persons were killed in an ambush on Friday carried out by remnants of the People's Army at an area located between the villages of Kirkindi and Kitin, close to the eastern town of Al-Korgul in the South Kordofan state. The government of South Kordofan and the Legislative Council of the state, together with the security committee and local citizens mourned their loss. The party were  on their way from Dilling to Kadugli when they were attacked by a group of armed men, a relative of one of the deceased said. Minister of Defence, Gen Abdul-Rahim Mohammed Hussein described the assassinations as "strange and unfamiliar" to the Sudanese community. In a press conference held at Khartoum airport on his arrival from Addis Ababa Saturday, the minister said "we strongly condemn this barbaric and unfamiliar act to the Sudanese community and politics, and we urge the government, citizens and all political parties, to denounce this criminal and heinous act".