Darfur rebels call for unity as clashes continue
Oct 18, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Darfur rebels called on a former ally to rejoin their ranks on Wednesday as a top U.N. envoy said the government had lost two major battles in the western region, with reports of “very high” losses.
Sudan’s government signed a peace accord in May with one of three rebel factions. But since returning to Khartoum, the head of that group — former rebel Minni Arcua Minnawi — has lost ground in Darfur and been sidelined on the political scene.
“Minni was betrayed by the international community and the government,” said Khalil Ibrahim, a senior member of a new rebel alliance called the National Redemption Front (NRF).
“Minni has to come back and join us. He is our brother and he can come back — this is his only choice,” he told Reuters.
Mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003 accusing the central government of marginalizing the vast region.
Far from ending the bloodshed that experts say has killed 200,000 and forced 2.5 million from their homes, the May accord escalated the violence with infighting between rebel factions and clashes between the NRF and the government.
Minnawi himself has complained of slow implementation of the peace deal, under which he became a senior member of Sudan’s presidency with special powers over Darfur.
BIG BATTLES
The U.N. envoy in Sudan, Jan Pronk, said the government had lost two major battles with the NRF in North Darfur near the border with Chad — in Umm Sidr in September and in Kari Yari earlier this month.
“The losses seem to have been very high,” he wrote on his web site www.janpronk.nl. “Reports speak about hundreds of casualties in each of the two battles, many wounded soldiers and many taken as prisoner.”
“The morale in the government army in North Darfur has gone down, Some generals have been sacked; soldiers have refused fighting,” Pronk added.
Army officials were not immediately available to comment.
The NRF claimed victory in both battles. The Sudanese army accused the government in Chad of supporting both rebel attacks.
Pronk said the government had responded by mobilizing militias and moving troops and military hardware into the area.
“The use of militia with ties to the Janjaweed recalls the events in 2003 and 2004,” he said, referring to a period of heavy conflict which created a major humanitarian crisis.
Darfuris call Arab militias, armed by the government to quell the rebellion, Janjaweed — a term loosely derived from the Arabic for devils on horseback.
The Janjaweed stand accused of a campaign of rape, murder and pillage called genocide by Washington. Khartoum denies genocide, but the International Criminal Court is investigating alleged war crimes in Darfur.
Pronk said rebel infighting had decreased in the face of clashes with the government. Ibrahim’s comments seemed to signal a willingness to reconcile rebel factions.
“We are expecting another major (government) offensive in Tine,” said Ibrahim, saying army troops were moving toward the Sudan-Chad border town.
(Reuters)