20100809
reuters

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan has halted direct censorship of daily newspapers, journalists said on Monday, but few believed that this marked a genuine step towards press freedom which is enshrined in the constitution.

One opposition journalist said direct censorship imposed by the state security service was just one of many ways to control the press, adding that the state had a bigger arsenal of laws to punish reporters than for thieves.

Two newspapers remain shut and the BBC Arabic service was taken off local frequencies in north Sudan on Monday after the government accused the broadcaster of smuggling equipment.

"Censorship was lifted yesterday -- al-Midan published for the first time in about two months," journalist Abdel Gadir who works for the Communist Party paper al-Midan told Reuters.

Under direct censorship members of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) visited newspaper offices before they published and removed articles they deemed unsuitable.

Newspapers were informed that these visits would no longer take place. The NISS had focused on reports not sourced to the government on the Darfur conflict, on a southern Sudanese referendum on secession and the International Criminal Court which has issued arrest warrants for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, journalists say.

Since a 2005 deal ended decades of north-south civil war Sudan had made progress towards press freedom, which is guaranteed in the new constitution introduced after the peace accord. But authorities often crack down on the lively print press while maintaining tight control over TV and radio.