CAIRO Ñ Sudan has ordered a crackdown on draft evaders amid what Western diplomatic sources term an increasing difficulty in recruiting soldiers for the war against rebels in the south.

The sources said draft evasion has been high among university students. Sudanese are required to serve one year in the military.

Sudanese authorities have announced that draft dodgers face three years in jail. After their sentence, those convicted will be sent to the south for military duty.

Other measures being taken by authorities would ban university graduates for jobs without proof of military service. Officials said the government crackdown would seek those who have failed to report for the military since 1997.

A spokesman for the National Military Service administration, Ibrahim Yassin Shaqlawi, warned that draft-dodgers would have their names published in government newspapers.

University graduates must serve three months in the army followed by nine months of national service. But diplomatic sources said university students have been sent in increasing numbers to fight Sudanese rebels in the south.

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