VZCZCXRO5664
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #0210 0440739
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 130739Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6100
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 000210 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: SOCI PGOV PHUM ASEC SU
SUBJECT:  Student Confrontation Results in Death 
 
¶1.  On February 8, a confrontation between groups of students 
aligned with the National Congress Party (NCP) and with the Sudanese 
Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM) turned deadly, with one student 
killed and several more injured.  The incident, which took place on 
the campus of Al-Nilein University in downtown Khartoum, followed a 
week of rising tensions between the political student unions 
National Movement of Islamic Students (NMIS) which is pro-NCP, and 
the pro-SPLM African National Front (ANF).  The incident was echoed 
on February 11, when violence broke out between two parallel groups 
at the University of Ismail Azhari in Khartoum. 
 
¶2.  According to local media accounts, several days prior to the 
confrontation SPLM students held a rally decrying political Islam 
and criticizing the NCP for having exploited Islam to mobilize youth 
to fight and die on their behalf in Southern Sudan.  The student 
groups argued over the right to assemble and make such comments, 
which came to a head on February 8, when NMIS marched against a 
group of ANF students holding speeches.  According to some reports, 
plain-clothed and uniformed police were among the NCP students, who 
pursued the SPLM students into a university building.  Unknown 
assailants fired shots, resulting in the death of an NCP-sympathetic 
student, though reports conflict as to whether he was shot or 
stabbed.  There are conflicting claims regarding responsibility for 
the killing, and the issue has been reduced to a duel of accusations 
and counter-accusations in the local press. 
 
¶3.  Comment:  Sudan's student unions historically serve as a 
bellwether for greater social political temperament, and represent 
the more reactive elements in the parties.  Given the strong words 
exchanged by leaders of the two student groups recently, further 
violence is likely. 
 
HUME