KHARTOUM: A Sudanese Christian woman was detained at Khartoum airport yesterday, one day after an Islamic court annulled her death sentence for apostasy and released her from prison.
The exact status of 26-year-old Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag after officials took her back into custody was unclear.
US officials said they had received assurances that she had not been arrested and would be allowed to leave, but a Sudanese source said she was being investigated for carrying fake documents.
“The National Security took her and Daniel,” said the source, referring to Ishag’s American husband Daniel Wani, who was supposed to be travelling with her.
Later, the same source said that Ishag had been transferred from the custody of the powerful National Intelligence and Security Service to an ordinary police station.
She is under investigation there but has not been charged, he said. Her husband and children are with her but are not themselves suspected of wrongdoing, he added.
Meanwhile, in Washington, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf downplayed the incident and said US officials would work with Khartoum to ensure the family would soon be on its way.
Harf said Sudan had said that “the family was temporarily detained at the airport for several hours by the government for questioning about issues related to their travel and, I think, travel documents.
“They have not been arrested,” she added. “The government has assured us of their safety. The embassy has and will remain highly involved in working with the family and the government.”
Sudan’s Information Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman said he was not familiar with the latest developments and could not comment.
AFP
