Sudan says committed to truce with western rebels

KHARTOUM, Sept 6 (Reuters) – Sudan’s army has said it is committed to a truce with rebels in the country’s western Darfur region which is due to come into force on Saturday, the government-owned al-Anbaa newspaper reported.

The ceasefire, signed in Chad this week between Khartoum and the rebel Sudan Liberation Army/Movement (SLM/A), would bring to an end seven months of fighting in the arid and poor Darfur region of Africa’s largest country.

SLM/A Secretary-General Minni Arcua Minnawi said last week government forces had bombed targets in Darfur after the truce was signed on Wednesday.

Al-Anbaa said: “Mohamed Bashir Suleiman, the official spokesman of the armed forces, reaffirmed the commitment of the armed forces to the ceasefire in Darfur.”

The paper did not say whether Suleiman had referred to the rebels’ allegations of an attack. The independent al-Ayam daily said the conflict in Darfur had displaced about 40,000 people and that 65,000 more had fled Darfur for neighbouring Chad.

Southern Sudanese rebels and Khartoum are currently in peace talks in Kenya to end another civil conflict in Sudan which has lasted 20 years and killed some two million people.