Nairobi/Khartoum - Human rights body Amnesty International on Tuesday condemned the hanging of nine Sudanese men convicted of beheading a prominent newspaper editor, saying they may have been innocent. "The execution of the nine men is outrageous," said Tawanda Hondora, Africa Deputy Director at Amnesty International. "They were arbitrarily arrested, tortured and then subjected to an unfair trial."

Mohamed Taha Mohamed Ahmed, editor of al-Wifaq, was kidnapped from his home in 2006. His decapitated body was found in the streets of Khartoum the next day.

Sudan found ten members of the Fur tribe, one of the tribes in Darfur that has been fighting the Arab government, guilty of the crime. One was later acquitted.

The nine men were hanged in a Khartoum prison on Monday, in front of Mohamed Taha's relatives.

The authorities said that articles Mohamed Taha wrote in his newspaper questioning the scale of rape against women in Darfur and criticizing rebel groups angered the nine men.

Mohamed Taha had also angered Islamists by reprinting an article questioning the roots of the Prophet Mohammed.

Hondora called on Sudan to abolish the death penalty immediately.

"This case is a tragic example of what happens when an irreversible punishment such as the death penalty is applied," Hondora said.

The conflict in Darfur began in 2003 when mainly non-Arab tribesmen took up arms against what they called decades of neglect and discrimination by the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum.

The United Nations says up to 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced by the conflict. The Sudanese government claims around 10,000 have died.(dpa)