Sudan to pursue west rebels under anti-terror law

KHARTOUM, Dec 30 (Reuters) – Sudan has begun legal proceedings against western rebels under anti-terror laws and will extradite leaders from abroad to prosecute them for crimes against the state, the justice minister said late on Monday.

Two main rebel groups launched a revolt in the remote western Darfur region of Africa’s largest country in February, accusing Khartoum of marginalising the poor, arid area.

Justice Minister Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin said late on Monday night: “The attorney-general has begun legal proceedings against the rebel groups in Darfur…they fall under the jurisdiction of the anti-terrorism law in Sudan”.

But a leader of the rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) in Darfur told Reuters on Tuesday it was the Khartoum government that was committing “terrorist” acts in the west, arming Arab tribes to fight African tribes there.

“They cannot prosecute us. We are the ones fighting against terrorists. They have armed the Arab tribes to kill others here,” said the SLA’s Minni Arcua Minnawi from Darfur.

The SLA signed a truce with Khartoum in September, but peace talks broke down earlier this month with both sides blaming each other. The other main rebel group in Darfur has not entered into talks.

The United Nations has said the conflict in Darfur has displaced more than 600,000 people and it has warned of a serious humanitarian crisis there.

Analysts say the escalating conflict in Darfur could derail peace talks in Kenya between the government and a separate rebel group to end two decades of civil war in the south.

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said on Monday he expected a final peace deal to be agreed in Kenya within a week.