Southern rebels condemn government role in war in west

NAIROBI, Jan 29 (Reuters) – Sudanese rebels negotiating with Khartoum to end a war in the south protested on Thursday against attacks on civilians it said were being carried out by government forces fighting another war in the west.

The statement by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) came as a U.N. official quoted officials in Chad, west of Sudan, as saying a Sudanese warplane attacking western rebels bombed the Chadian side of the border on Thursday.

It appeared to be the first time Sudanese planes have bombed Chad.

Two rebel groups launched a revolt in Darfur in west Sudan in February, accusing the government of sidelining the poor area. The fighting has escalated sharply since December.

“We condemn in the strongest terms the continuous bombardment by the Sudanese army against the innocent villages of Darfur resulting in thousands of refugees crossing the border to neighbouring Chad,” SPLM spokesman Yasser Arman said.

“We warn the government against using its militia, and (against) its human rights violations which amount to ethnic cleansing in Darfur.”

The southern rebels have said they sympathise with the rebels in the west and that they both represent communities marginalised by the government.

The government has declined to comment on the fighting.

The SPLM and its military wing, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, is holding talks in Kenya with the Khartoum government to try to stop a 20-year-old war in the south.

The SPLA has been fighting the Islamist government in the north for two decades for more autonomy for the largely Christian and animist south. Disputes over oil, ethnicity and ideology have complicated the conflict, which has killed two million people and made four million homeless.