North Darfur governor condemns recent JEM attack

May 18, 2009 (KHARTOUM) – The governor of the North Darfur state Osman Kibir condemned a recent attack by Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) following clashes with Sudanese army.

Sudan accused Chad of backing the latest rebel offensive and vowed a response but has since appeared to back down from the threat.

Kibir said the JEM assault targeted forces of ex-rebel leader Minni Minnawi head of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and senior presidential assistant.

Sudan official news Agency (SUNA) quoted Kibir as saying that the attacks continued up till Saturday and that Sudanese armed forces managed to repeal the assailants and forcing Chadian military to withdraw.

The Darfur official said the incident is “serious” in light of ongoing efforts to achieve peace in Darfur.

On Monday the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon expressed concern about the tensions between Sudan and Chad and called on all parties to cease hostilities.

Chad acknowledged that it has sent troops inside Sudan and conducted air raids to pursue rebels seeking to oust President Idriss Deby.

The two neighbors have long traded accusations of supporting each other’s rebels and a series of agreements, most recently in the Arab gulf state of Qatar, failed to ease tensions.

(ST)