Darfur rebel NMRD injures 5 AU troops as talks begin

Nov 30, 2005 (ABUJA) — A splinter Darfur rebel group clashed with African Union monitors, injuring five soldiers, as the two main rebel groups began peace talks with the Sudanese government in Nigeria on Wednesday.

It was the latest in a series of clashes involving the National Movement for Reform and Development (NMRD), a breakaway group demanding a seat at the Abuja talks where only two principal rebel groups are represented.

“Five soldiers were injured, of which three were transferred to Khartoum for medical treatment,” an AU spokesman in Khartoum said, adding the injuries were serious.

He said the AU did not know who was behind the attack south of Kulbus, near the Chad border.

But the NMRD said it had clashed with AU troops late on Tuesday.

“We were being attacked by government helicopters and then the AU came along in their vehicles,” said Khalil Abdallah, political leader of the NMRD. “They started shooting at us first so we returned fire in self defence,” he added.

Hours earlier, Abdallah said his group seized Sirba town in West Darfur state, killing 37 soldiers and police, in a bid to gain a seat at the talks. An aid worker said only three policemen were injured in the attack.

The NMRD has warned the more than 6,000 AU troops in Darfur not to enter their areas and in October kidnapped dozens of troops who were later released.

Peace talks to end the conflict which has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced 2 million people in Darfur opened in Abuja on Tuesday. Negotiations on power sharing are due to start on Wednesday afternoon.

AU chief mediator Salim Ahmed Salim said no group was going to shoot their way to the negotiating table.

“To think you can go on the rampage and kill people and demand a seat at the negotiating table is a complete misunderstanding of what these talks are all about,” he told Reuters in Abuja.

Minni Arcua Minnawi, one of two leaders who claim the presidency of the main rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Army, said the only way for the NMRD and other factions to join the talks would be for them to rejoin the groups they split from.

The other SLA leader, Abdel Wahed Mohamed el-Nur, said no rebel factions should be recognised as this would encourage splits.

The AU force in Darfur suffered its first casualties in October in an ambush that was initially blamed on rebels, but later a preliminary investigation concluded it was Arab militia. Four Nigerian soldiers and two civilian contractors were killed.

(Reuters)