Turabi criticises government policies on Darfur

KHARTOUM, Feb 24 (AFP) — Leading opposition figure Hassan al-Turabi on Tuesday criticised government policy on the troubled Darfur region and said the conflict should not have been separated from the peace process in south Sudan.

The Islamist leader, at a press conference, also charged that Chad was implicated in the year-old conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan.

“The southern problem and the Darfur issue are two faces of the same coin and should not be separated from each other,” said Turabi, who in October was released after nearly three years of detention.

He said his Popular Congress Party was opposed to the government’s policies in Darfur and supported the region’s demands for better representation and economic aid, although it was also “opposed to violence”.

“The government agitates the tribes (in Darfur) against each other and incites tribal sedition,” charged Turabi.

About 3,000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced by the war between rebels drawn mainly from Darfur’s non-Arab minorities and government troops and their Arab militia allies.

Turabi said he had information from official sources in Darfur “confirming Chadian involvement in the Darfur incidents”.

The Khartoum government and the main southern rebel group, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, last week resumed peace talks in Kenya aimed at ending 21 years of devastating civil war.