Sudan 'bans newspapers and TV stations linked to Bashir'

Sudan has banned two newspapers and two television stations for allegedly receiving funding from ousted President Omar al-Bashir, AFP news agency has reported.

Al-Sudani and Al-Ray Al-Am newspapers and Ashrooq and Teeba television stations were banned by the committee tasked with dismantling institutions linked to Bashir.

"These institutions were funded by the state and we want to return the money to the Sudanese people," Mohamed al-Fekki, a member of Sudan's transitional ruling council, is quoted as saying.

Al-Sudani's editor-in-chief Diaa al-Din Belal denied receiving funds from Bashir's government.

By Tuesday evening the two television stations had stopped broadcasting, AFP reports.

"We operate under a private company and we did not receive any funds from a party or a government authority," Mr Belal told the news agency.

Bashir was ousted by the military last April after mass protests against his rule.

The country is currently being ruled by a civilian-majority body formed after a power-sharing deal signed in August by protest leaders and the generals who overthrew Bashir.