UNITED NATIONS - Five sheikhs who spent more than a year at a UN base in Darfur saying they feared for their lives left on Monday after an accord with the Sudanese authorities, the UN said.

Khartoum - A Sudanese reporter was freed over the weekend after President Omar al-Bashir ordered the release of all detained journalists, a government official said.

A Sudanese court sentenced to death by hanging a leader in the rebel Justice and Equality Movement, which carried out attacks against the army in Southern Kordofan, state-run SUNA news agency reported late yesterday.