Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said in remarks published today that his government was committed to Islamic sharia law, which is opposed by those fighting for autonomy in the non-Muslim south.
If the government accepts to cancel sharia, it will lose its legitimacy and presence, Mr Bashir was quoted as saying in the independent
al-Rai al-Aam
newspaper.
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A key demand of the opposition Sudan People's Liberation Army, which is fighting for autonomy for the mainly animist and Christian south from the Muslim Arab north, is that Islamic sharia law should not be implemented in the south.
Mr Bashir formed an Islamist government with sharia law as its central plank after leading a 1989 military coup.