AU official: Darfur rebels are thieves; SPLA forces join army
Sept 6, 2005 — The special representative for the African Union, Baba Ghana, described the rebels of Darfur as thieves, in remarks to the acts they carry out against the Sudanese Arabs.
He said in a report to the Union, which was welcomed, that the attacks on the Arabs at the hands of rebels in the violent Darfur areas in Sudan are acts of robbery.
He said that the rebels from the Sudan Liberation Movement killed an unidentified number of Arab Bedouins and kidnapped other 7 and stole thousands of camels ten days ago.
He continued that the rebels attacked Meilam village, 50 km north of Deyala, capital of southern Darfur, and this resulted in in-humanitarian acts.
The African Union demanded the rebels of release the kidnapped people, and bring back the livestock they had stolen, noting that the incident might have a negative impact on the Darfur peace talks.
The report deplored the rebels because they reject cooperation with the mediators of the African Union who are trying to solve the crisis in Darfur. The talks to be resumed in Abuja on September 15th.
In another development, some 1500 soldiers from the forces of the Sudan People Liberation Army (SPLA), the armed portion of the Sudan People Liberation (SPLM) headed by Sudan’s First Vice President, on Sunday went to Khartoum in order to form a joint unit with the government forces, in the framework of the peace agreement signed in January.
They will shortly form the first joint unit with a similar number of government army members. According to the peace agreement between the government and the People’s Liberation movement (SPLM), joint units should be formed from the SPLA and the government army to supervise the permanent ceasefire.
The joint forces which are estimated at 40,000 men will be deployed in the areas efected by the civil war, including 24,000 in southern Sudan and 6,000 soldiers in al-Nouba ( central part), 6,000 in the Blue Nile ( central east ) and 3,000 in the capital Khartoum.