Darfur rebel group rejects Egyptian, Chinese and Pakistani troops
December 28, 2007 (JUBA) – Troops from 3 countries are not welcome in Darfur, Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) said in a statement today.
The rebel SLM led by Ahmed Abdelshafi Toba said that Egyptian troops are “nothing but intelligence units used to support the National Congress Party (NCP) government”.
UN Security Council resolution 1769 establishing UN-AU hybrid force provided for a transition from the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) to the force known as UNAMID by December 31st.
The statement accused the Chinese government of blocking UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions punishing Khartoum and providing the Sudanese government with weapons used to “commit genocide and human rights violation”.
The spokesperson of the group, Esam Eddin al-Haj, said the SLM do not want “Pakistani troops and forces from any country that harbor terrorists”.
The Sudanese president Omar Hassan Al-Bashir said he would not accept non-African troops apart from Chinese and Pakistani technical units already committed.
However on the other side of the conflict Justice and Equality Movement and SLM of Abedlawahid al-Nur rebel groups expressed reservations with regard to Chinese troops.
Last month the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) said it would not allow the engineers onto land held by its forces. It accused Beijing of stoking the crisis by supporting Khartoum.
“They are not welcome… They can never come into our area,” JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim told Reuters.
Darfur displaced also organised manifestations against the arrival of the Chinese peacekeepers in the region.
More than 130 Chinese engineers arrived in south Darfur’s capital Nyala late November to pave the way for a 26,000-strong United Nations/African Union force in the region.
JEM has threatened to attack the Chinese peacekeepers before retracting the threat.
International experts estimate 200,000 people have died in the conflict, which Washington calls genocide, a term European governments are reluctant to use. The Sudan government says 9,000 people have been killed.
(ST)