Sudan landmine blast kills senior official

KHARTOUM
June 12, 2001 (Reuters)

A senior Sudanese official has been killed in a landmine blast, the independent Alwan newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Hamad Abdel-Kerim, Secretary General of the Transitional Council for Peace in Southern Kordofan state, died on Monday when his vehicle ran over a landmine.

Several other people were injured in the blast near Kadugli, the state's main town, about 600 km (375 miles) southwest of Khartoum. The paper did not list the number of casualties or their names.

It said Abdel-Kerim was heading a convoy taking relief aid to displaced people in Southern Kordofan, where the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), the main rebel group in Sudan's 18-year-old civil war, controls some mountain areas.

Both rebels and the government are known to plant mines.

Abdel-Kerim belonged to the Nuba people, the main tribe of Southern Kordofan. He was previously minister of finance in the state's regional government.