Khartoum, Sudan ? The body of a Sudan newspaper editor who had been accused of insulting Islam was recovered Wednesday, a day after he was kidnapped by gunmen, officials said.

Mohammed Taha Mohammed Ahmed, the editor-in-chief of the independent daily Al-Wifaq, was kidnapped from his home in east Khartoum late Tuesday by a group of masked gunmen, police said. His body was found Wednesday in another part of the city, an Interior Ministry official said.

Police Maj. Gen. Mohammed Nagib al-Tayeb said that several suspects were arrested for alleged involvement, but declined to elaborate.

In May 2005, scores of Sudanese gathered in front of the capital’s courthouse demanding a death sentence for Ahmed for insulting Islam, by republishing an article from the Internet that questioned the parentage of the Prophet Muhammad.

The Al-Wifaq daily was fined $3,200, and was temporarily suspended by the government for the article, which angered Muslims of different sects.

Ahmed denied the blasphemy charges and apologized in a letter to the press, saying he did not intend to insult the prophet.