Sudanese authorities gear up for possible fighting in west Sudan
KHARTOUM, Dec 18 (AFP) — The authorities in western Sudan are making preparations for a possible armed confrontation with rebels after peace talks collapsed in neighboring Chad, official and other sources said.
The government of North Darfur State announced a statewide mobilisation Wednesday “among all sectors of the people” in preparation for confronting any rebel threat against the state’s security, SUNA news agency said Thursday.
Reporting from the North Darfur state capital Al Fashir, the official news agency said Governor Osman Yousuf Kibir issued an order imposing an all-night curfew in all towns of the state.
The official news agency quoted Kibir as saying the authorities have begun holding public mobilisation rallies to enlighten people on the situation and on the need to prepare for confronting any development.
Reporting from Nyala, capital of South Darfur State, independent Al Sahafa daily said Governor Adam Hamid Mussa instructed the state authorities to be on the alert for repulsing any attack by the armed rebels.
General Mussa Wednesday issued strict orders to the commissioners of the state’s seven localities to be ready to stand up to any security threats by the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) which he said had undermined the talks in Chad.
He called upon the people to immediately report on any gatherings by “the rebels,” but vowed that the army is capable of “defeating any outlaw and rebel.”
He added: “There are no talks except in the language of force as the state is now threatened by war.”
Mussa on Tuesday issued an order imposing an all-night curfew in Nyala, the paper said.
The peace talks between the Sudanese government and the Sudan Liberation Movement broke off Tuesday, a government minister from host country Chad said.
Kibir, the North Darfur governor, was quoted by the Sudan Media Centre (SMC) as saying the demands put forward by the SLM were “unobjective and carry the fingerprints of some parties and powers.”
Stopping short of identifying these parties, Kibir nonetheless accused the opposition Islamic Popular Congress party of “standing behind the rebels,” the SMC said.
The governor, who was quoted in his capital of Al-Fashir, then accused the SLM of reneging on positions and commitments they made in previous talks.
Reporting from Ndjamena, the SMC said Chadian President Idriss Deby had declared he would abandon his mediation bid between Khartoum and the SLM.
But the PCP denied the charges it supported the Darfur rebels.
Since February, the government has clashed with SLM rebels who accuse Khartoum of neglecting the impoverished Darfur region.
UN officials say 3,000 people have died in the violence and more than 500,000 have been displaced.