Sudan to enforce army conscription

Sudan, battling a 14-year-old rebellion in the south, has launched a drive to enforce military conscription, residents and newspapers said yesterday. The campaign kicked off on Sunday when road blocks were up in at least three states to catch men who hadn't performed compulsory service.

Residents said traffic was checked on roads into capital Khartoum Sudanese local newspaper reported similar checks in the nearly states of El-Gezira and Gedaraf, Al Watan weekly said today.

Sudanese Akhbar-Al Youm newspaper yesterday quoted Omar Abdl Marouf, a state minister in the Defense Ministry, as saying one million Sudanese youths had not performed national service.