Sudan says SPLM-N is the ‘biggest threat ’ to peace and security
April 28, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s foreign ministry has accused the rebel Sudan People Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) and its allies in the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) of posing the biggest threat to peace, security and humanitarian situation in the restive states of South Kordofan, Blue Nile and Darfur.
Sudan’s top diplomatic body said that the attack on Um Rawaba has exposed SPLM-N and its allies’ approach of using civilians as human shields and exploiting human suffering resulting from their “criminal activities” to achieve narrow political gains.
SRF rebels swept through the major town of Umm Rawaba in North Kordofan state on Saturday morning before withdrawing in the afternoon. Further attacks were claimed by the SPLM-N on four towns near South Kordofan capital city of Kadugli.
The foreign ministry called on the international community to compel the rebels to immediately cease all military operations in preparation for launching a new round of negotiations between the Sudanese government and the SPLM-N.
Last week, the Sudanese government and SPLM-N held the first round of talks since 2011 in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. However, the negotiations were adjourned till next month without success in bridging the wide gap between the two sides.
The foreign ministry appealed to the international community to implement the decision adopted by International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) in December 2011 in which it designated the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and all factions of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) as “negative forces threatening security of the region”.
SRF is an alliance between Sudanese factions opposed to the government led by president Omer Hassan al-Bashir. It was declared on 12 November 2011, following several months of support by Darfuri rebel groups for the SPLM-N in its conflict with Khartoum.
The alliance brings together the two main factions of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, as well as the other major rebel group in Darfur, the Justice and Equality Movement, and the SPLM-N.
(ST)