Sudan complains to UN about alleged Eritrean aid to rebels

KHARTOUM, Jan 5 (AFP) — Sudan said Monday it has lodged an official complaint with the UN Security Council charging that neighbouring Eritrea has been assisting rebels in western Sudan.

Foreign Minister Mustfa Ismail made the complaint in a message to the current chairman of the Security Council and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, his ministry said in a statement.

Ismail accused the Eritrean government of “persistently pursuing an aggressive policy against all neighbouring countries, heedless of the principles of good-neighbour relations, peaceful coexistance and cordial ties with other nations.”

He said Eritrea was unhappy with the signs that Khartoum and rebels in southern Sudan were about to end their 20-year civil war and therefore began supporting a rebellion that erupted in the western Darfur region in February.

The minister charged that Eritrea had contacted “armed outlaws” in Darfur region, opening training camps for them and providing them with weapons.

“The Sudanese government possesses evidence to support this,” Ismail said. “The Eritrean regime… aims at obstructing the current efforts for peace in Sudan and the global support to those efforts.”

He said the “ruling junta” in Eritrea “still clings to its bloody history of suppressing human rights and bodily liquidating its opponents and, for this reason, it is deviating from the worldwide trend of fighting violence, terrorism and terrorists.”

The Eritrean government offered haven, training and finance to “the terrorists” in eastern and western Sudan where they “attacked and intimidated” the civilians, “looted their belongings, burned their villages and prevented the delivery of relief to those who have been affected by the incidents” in Darfur region, the foreign minister said.

Last week Eritrea denied backing rebels in Darfur and said criticism from fellow Horn of Africa states was made to hide their own “deep internal problems”.

The leaders of Ethiopia, Sudan and Yemen wrapped up a tripartite summit in Addis Ababa on December 29 accusing Eritrea of being a destabilising influence in the region.

The Darfur rebellion, launched in February by the Sudan Liberation Movement and a smaller group to protest against government neglect of the semi-desert region, left some 3,000 dead last year, according to UN estimates.