Gaddafi breaks silence on hosting of Darfur rebel leader

July 19, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — The Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has commented for the first time on the presence of a Darfur rebel leader on his territory which has angered the Sudanese government.

Last May, the Chadian authorities barred leader of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Khalil Ibrahim from entering the country and confiscated Chadian passports he and his aides had in their possession. The move brought the long standing relations between JEM and Ndjamena to a low point. The militarily powerful group used Chad as a transit point to enter Darfur and a logistical base.

Libya received the rebel chief and has stayed ever since. The Sudanese government at the most senior levels has been publicly and privately urging Libya to expel the JEM leader and also citing an arrest warrant circulated by the Interpol for extraditing him over his role in the 2008 attack on the Sudanese twin capital city of Omdurman.

However, Tripoli rejected appeals from Khartoum despite assertions by the latter that Ibrahim’s expulsion is imminent.

Gaddafi said today that Ibrahim’s stay in Libya is not without restrictions.

“He [Ibrahim] has stayed in Libya and all our brothers in Sudan and Chad are right to be sensitive about that,” Gaddafi said in an interview with the France 24 television station and radio stations RFI and Monte Carlo.

“We told him that, to serve peace and to lay down arms, it’s forbidden for him to issue orders from Libya or make any comments,” Gaddafi said in a recording of the interview provided to Reuters.

“There is a group fighting in Sudan and its leader is in Libya and everybody has the right to make links between the one thing and the other,” Gaddafi said.

JEM has suspended participation in the Qatar-hosted peace talks despite a promising start which led to signing of a framework agreement earlier this year. The movement accused the government of breaching the temporary ceasefire agreement and attacking its positions.

On Friday, the Sudan armed Forces (SAF) held victory celebrations in North Darfur capital of El-Fasher over JEM fighters claiming to kill at least 300 members of them, capturing another 75 and destroyed dozens of their vehicles. The claim was denied by the rebel group.

The Sudanese president said that his army has squashed JEM rebels and that they have no option but to surrender or “face the desert”.
(ST)