Khartoum denies dropping bombs on Darfur rebel movement

KHARTOUM, Nov 2 (AFP) — Khartoum has denied dropping bombs on rebel-held areas in western Sudan, saying rather that the air strike targeted areas not included in a ceasefire agreement, media reports said Sunday.

Sudanese rebels in the Darfur region of western Sudan accused the government of launching air raids on their positions Saturday, threatening indirect peace talks underway in neighbouring Chad.

Chadian mediators were shuttling between the two sides to find an explanation on the bombing, reports said.

But military spokesman, General Mohamed Beshir Suleiman said the bombing was the result of “suspicious movements by armed groups belonging to the Justice and Equality Movement in the Orshu area in North Darfur,” the independent daily Akhbar Al-Youm quoted him as saying Sunday.

Although smaller than the better-known Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), the Justice and Equality Movement is drawn from the same ethnic African group and also wants a better deal from the central government.

Suleiman said the area was “not covered” by the ceasefire agreement signed between the government and the SLM/A in Abeche, Chad, last September and denied violating the ceasefire.

“The armed forces have resolved the matter militarily by air strikes,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.

Government forces “stood up to a hostile act by the Justice and Equality organisation, which has not signed the ceasefire agreement to which the government is still committed,” the paper added.

On Sunday, the independent daily Al-Rai Al-Aam reported that the SLM/A was suspending indirect talks with Khartoum in Abeche to protest against the air strikes, it quoted one delegate as saying.

The bombing “manifested insincerity by the government in implementing the ceasefire agreement,” Al-Rai Al-Aam reported deputy chief SLM/A delegate Osman Bushra as saying.

But the group would not leave Abeche or “close the door to talks to spare the Darfur people the calamities of war,” he was quoted as saying.

Talks reached deadlock earlier this week, with the two sides accusing each other of putting forward unacceptable conditions for direct talks to take place.

On September 3, the government and the SLM/A signed a ceasefire agreement which they later accused each other of violating.

The Darfur rebellion, launched in February to protest against economic neglect of the semi-desert region by Khartoum, has left about 3,000 dead so far, according to UN estimates.

Another 400,000 have been displaced by the conflict.