Sudanese Darfur rebels threaten to end truce over alleged army attacks

NDJAMENA, June 12 (AFP) — Rebels from Sudan’s Darfur region will end their ceasefire within 24 hours unless government forces stop attacking their positions, a mediator in the conflict said Saturday.

“The threat … stems from the fact that Sudanese armed forces are intensifying their offensives on rebel positions,” said Allami Ahmat, a spokesman for the Chadian mediators in the conflict that has left 10,000 dead.

He drew attention to what he called “the actions of supposedly uncontrolled elements of the Janjaweed (government-backed Arab militia) who continue to operate on Chadian and Sudanese territory.”

Darfur is in the throes of what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, prompted by a rebel conflict sparked in February last year that led to a fierce retaliation by government forces and allied militia.

Besides those killed, an estimated one million have been displaced by the fighting, with more than 100,000 of them taking refuge in neighbouring Chad, according to UN figures.

The Sudanese government and the rebels signed a ceasefire on April 8, also agreeing to deployment of African Union observers.

The EU, the United States and the UN have all called on Khartoum to rein in the Janjaweed. Sudan for its part has dismissed charges by the international community that ethnic cleansing is going on in the region.