Army bombarded Darfur rebels inside Sudan, Khartoum says
* Sudan says the mediation and South Sudan were informed of the movement of rebels towards Sudanese territory.
July 21, 2012 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan’s negotiating team denied that its army carried out a fresh aerial attack yesterday in South Sudan stressing that its army was pursuing Darfur rebels inside Sudanese territory.
Rebels belonging to Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) attempted to launch an attack through the South Sudanese territory, but the army dealt with them inside Sudan, said the spokesperson of the Sudanese delegation, Omer Dahab, in a statement to the official SUNA on Saturday morning.
“SAF did not penetrate inside the South Sudanese territory,” he emphasised.
Dahab said in statement released in Addis Ababa that SAF struck JEM rebels in Um Ajajah area inside Sudan after warning the mediation and South Sudanese top negotiator Pagan Amum that they were monitoring their movement towards Darfur from South Sudan and they will storm them if they enter the Sudanese territory.
“And this what we effectively did”, he added.
Khartoum and Juba have agreed to establish a demilitarised zone along their common border, but the Sudanese government refuses a plan proposed by the AU mediation to line it.
The official spokesperson further said Sudan reaffirmed in a recent statement its readiness to defend its territory. He also stressed the willingness of the Sudanese delegation to resume direct talks.
The two delegations opted in a deal reached on 7 July to conduct direct negotiations without the mediation. The AU team has been criticised by both sides.
Atif Kiir the spokesperson of South Sudanese delegation told Al-Jazeera TV that they are no longer ready to continue direct talks with Khartoum team and demanded to return to the discussions in presence of the mediation.
The parties said they are committed to reach a comprehensive agreement before the deadline of 2 August fixed by the UN Security Council in its resolution 2046.
(ST)