JEM chief to leave Libya in the coming days, says Sudan president

August 12, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir today revealed that the leader of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Khalil Ibrahim will leave Libya in the coming days.

Ibrahim has ended up staying in Libya after Chad denied him entry last May marking a dramatic end to a special relationship with the rebel group after years of providing them with logistical backing.

Since the rebel leader arrived in Libya, the Sudanese government has been pressing its neighbour at the highest level to either expel him or hand him over for his role in leading an attack on the capital two years ago.

However, the Libyan government signalled that it will not heed to Sudan’s request but pledged to limit Ibrahim’s movements and prevent him from making political statements or issuing orders to his forces.

Today Sudan official news agency (SUNA) quoted Bashir as telling his cabinet that he agreed with his Libyan counterpart Muammar Gaddafi during his visit last week to Tripoli That Ibrahim must leave the country and that this will take place in the coming days.

In June, the director of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) Mohamed Atta Al-Moula said that Libya is in the process of expelling the rebel chief.

But today, the JEM spokesperson Ahmed Hussein dismissed Bashir’s assertions as “propaganda”.

“There has been no change in the status of Dr. Khalil’s stay in Libya. Bashir is simply trying to cover up for his army’s defeats. Our movement’s presence on the ground is as strong as ever and they know it,” Hussein said.

JEM signed a tentative agreement and ceasefire with Khartoum in February which unravelled amid renewed clashes. The rebel group suspended its participation in the Doha peace talks saying that the Sudanese government violated the accord.

(ST)