Sudan doubles bounty for Darfur rebel: $250K
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) - May 13, 2008 State media had been reporting that the reward was 500 million
new Sudanese pounds, the equivalent of $246 million. The media
described that amount as the equivalent of hundreds of millions of
U.S. dollars.
But Bakri Mullah, secretary general of the External Information
Office, told The Associated Press Tuesday in response to repeated
queries that the reward was actually 500 million old Sudanese
pounds, the equivalent of about $246,000.
Sudan revalued its currency more than a year ago and the new
pound is worth 1,000 times more than the old one.
According to an announcement on television Tuesday morning, the
bounty will go to anyone who contributes to the arrest of Khalil
Ibrahim, who heads Darfur's Justice and Equality Movement.
Ibrahim's followers reached the outskirts of Khartoum on
Saturday, after racing across the vast arid terrain of central
Sudan with little obstruction - even though the military spotted
and unsuccessfully pursued them - to make it to the capital's
doorstep.
The attack, which Khartoum later said it had repelled, shocked
the government, which is now conducting a full-scale manhunt for
Ibrahim and cracking down on other opposition figures.