Darfur rebels sentenced to death over Khartoum attack

A court in Sudan has sentenced ten members of the Darfur Justice and Equality Movement to death by hanging after the men were found guilty of an attack on the Khartoum suburb of Omdurman in May 2008.A Sudanese court on Wednesday condemned 10 rebels from the Darfur rebel Justice and Equality Movement to death for an unprecedented attack on Khartoum in 2008 which killed more than 220 people."I condemn you to death by hanging," Judge Mutasim Tajisir said in delivering the verdict.The men were found guilty of terrorist activities, overthrowing the regime, destruction of public property and possession of illegal arms, he said."God is Great! JEM is strong! Revolution, revolution until victory!" cried the defendants, dressed in traditional long robes, after hearing the verdict.Tajisir, who ordered the release of three others accused in the case, gave the defendants one week to appeal the verdict -- which was swiftly branded illegal by JEM. Fifty members of JEM -- the most active Darfur rebel group -- have already been condemned to hang over the attack on the capital's twin city of Omdurman in May 2008.More than 222 people were killed when rebels thrust more than 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) across the sandy expanse from conflict-torn Darfur in western Sudan to Omdurman, just across the Nile from the presidential palace.