Rebels accuse Sudanese of killing two in truce violation

CAIRO, Sept 8 (AFP) — Sudanese troops violating a two-day old ceasefire fired mortars Monday at a rebel base in western Sudan, a day after killing two rebels in an air strike, a rebel leader charged.

In a telephone call from the Darfur region, rebel leader Mani Arkoi Minawi told AFP in Cairo that Sudanese troops and allied militias had fired mortars Monday at bases of his Sudan Liberation Movement in North Darfur.

The SLM secretary general added that “two Sudan Liberation Movement fighters were killed and four wounded in a helicopter raid by government forces” in Kutum.

Minawi had told AFP Sunday that two government helicopters had bombarded a rebel base in an inhabited area of Kutum, but he did not say whether there were any casualties.

Minawi insisted his movement was respecting the two-day old ceasefire.

“The Sudanese government is not respecting the ceasefire and we are urging the mediators to intervene,” Minawi said.

The Sudanese government announced Thursday that it and the SLM had signed a six-week ceasefire at a meeting in Chad on Wednesday. The truce took effect late Saturday.

The conflict has raged in Sudan’s western Darfur region since February.

Following the truce, the two sides agreed to kick off negotiations to bring peace to Darfur and address issues of underdevelopment in the region, which neighbors Chad.

The SLM has accused the Khartoum government of arming Arab tribes in Darfur to stage attacks on non-Arab villages and says it is fighting for an end to marginalization and neglect of the large, impoverished region by central authorities.

It is not included in the framework of peace talks aimed at ending Khartoum’s 20-year-old civil war with the southern rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army.