Sudan says it is winning war in western Sudan

KHARTOUM, Jan 22 (AFP) — The Sudanese government said its forces were winning the war against rebels in western Sudan’s Darfur region, as another rebel field commander was Thursday reported killed.

“The war in Darfur will stop in days and by then peace will be restored and life will return to normal,” President Omar al-Beshir predicted late Wednesday, the official Al-Anbaa daily reported.

Although the government has said it prefers a peaceful solution, public diplomacy has been sidelined for weeks and Beshir has said he was ready to use force to prevail in the conflict that erupted last February.

Meanwhile, North Darfur State Governor Osman Yousuf Kibir was reported as announcing that government troops on Tuesday night “forced their way into Ein Seru area, defeated the rebels and killed their commander Yahia Libis.”

Two weeks ago, Kibir said another field commander of the rebel Sudan Liberation Army, Abdallah Abbaker, was killed in a battle with government forces.

“The situation is now under control, as security in the region is maintained,” according to Kibir, who was quoted by the Sudan Media Centre, which is close to the government.

“The outlaws have no cause but are sheer gangs of armed robbery,” Kibir said.

By the end of next month “promising results related to security will be reached,” he said without elaborating.

However, the governor said the Khartoum government was also “committed to dialogue for reaching a peaceful settlement to the Darfur problem.”

Kibir said that for security reasons all high school students from North Darfur State will take a nationwide examination in March at one centre in the state capital Al-Fashir, instead of at several centres statewide.

He recalled how gunmen last year seized examination papers from a remote centre in Darfur, which allowed for cheating and forced an additional round of examinations nationwide.

The rebellion in the Darfur region erupted almost a year ago over charges the central government had neglected the impoverished region neighboring Chad.