Sudan denies rumors on new rebel raid against the capital

July 10, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese authorities dismissed rumors over new rebel attack on the capital, reassuring that deployment of troops in the different parts of the Khartoum is part of military exercises.

Since a raid by the Justice and Equality Movement against the Sudanese government on May 10, the organized forces conduct military exercises in the capital to address military gaps in the defense of the capital

Police Major General Mohammed Abdel-Majid al-Tayib spokesperson of the Sudanese police denied rumors on Darfur rebels attack on Khartoum saying these rumors aim to destabilize the security situation and come in the framework of psychological warfare led by what he called “the defeated fifth column.”

Since two days joint units of the armed forces, police and security services conduct military exercises within the framework of implementation of a plan to secure the national capital and vital installations.

The police official said that since such exercises began last week, they were accompanied by maintaining a high degree of readiness of those forces to test their operational capacity.

During the first National Security Council after the rebel raid, the military leadership of the army blamed the head of the security and intelligence services for withholding of vital information on the rebel progress towards the capital and the lack of coordination between the different forces.

(ST)