Darfur Minawi group denies UN accusations of rape and killing
July 10, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — A Darfur rebel faction, which signed a May peace deal for the western Sudanese region, denied accusation published in a UN report s of raping and murdering civilians in an offensive against rebel holdouts.
A spokesman for the Minnawi faction, Mahjoub Hussein, denied these charges Monday in an interview with the pan-Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera.
We officially reject this statement made by the UN, and we demand an immediate international investigation,” said Hussein, wearing a camouflage shirt. “These allegations are an attempt to tarnish the image of the movement.”
The UN mission issued “situation reports” for Sunday and Monday that reported numerous attacks in North Darfur, particularly around Um Sidir, Tawilla and northwest of El Fasher. Most of the incidents were reportedly cases of the Minawi faction of the Sudan Liberation Army attacking the Abdelwahid faction of the same rebel group.
Minni Minawi, the overall leader of the SLA, signed the May 5 accord, but Abdelwahid Elnur, the leader of a breakaway faction, rejected it.
“Intra SLA fighting in and around Tawilla has forced the displacement of about 4,000 Internally Displaced Persons,” the UN reported.
The report quoted the refugees as accusing the Minnawi faction of raping, kidnapping and killing people indiscriminately in the Tawilla district.
“One Internally Displaced Person alleged he witnessed 15 young women being raped and then killed,” said the UN situation report for Sunday.
Decades of low-level clashes in Darfur over land and water erupted in early 2003 when ethnic Africans took up arms against the Arab-led government in Khartoum, which responded with a counter-insurgency campaign that is accused of widespread atrocities.
The conflict has killed 300,000 people and displaced another 2 million. Some 235,000 refugees from Darfur fled across the border into Chad. And an estimated 50,000 Chadians have fled their homes near the border in recent months.
(ST)