Sudanese rebels say take control of wider area
(Adds African Union visit)
KHARTOUM, June 20 (Reuters) – One of the two main rebel groups in Sudan’s western region of Darfur said on Sunday it had extended its control to areas abandoned by government forces since a ceasefire agreement signed in April.
The official of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), who asked not to be named because he is based in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, said the movement had armed and trained new supporters in areas previously outside its control.
“There are areas in which there is no government presence but in which we have supporters, so we have moved in to provide protection for these supporters,” he told Reuters.
The areas include Geraida and Labadu towns in South Darfur state and Kurma and Shingul Tubay in North Darfur, he added.
The comments come a day after Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir ordered “complete mobilisation” to disarm all illegal armed groups in Darfur, where hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced by fighting since last year.
Other participants in the Darfur conflict are the Arab militias known as the Janjaweed, who have been attacking African villagers and driving them from their homes.
The government says the April 8 ceasefire banned moving forces into new areas and that the aim of a government campaign to disarm the rebels is to restore the April status quo.
The truce has reduced the intensity of the conflict but the government and rebel groups — the SLM and the Justice and Equality Movement — accuse each other of frequent violations.
The SLM official, denying it was violating the truce, said the group was partly responding to government forces activities.
“We are not moving forces. People are joining up because of what the government is doing to them. We are only arming and training them and they are establishing garrisons in their villages and towns,” he said.
He said about 300 villagers joined up his group after government forces bombed Tabit in Northern Darfur state, enabling the SLM to take control of Shingul Tubay.
The African Union is sending a team of ceasefire monitors to define areas controlled by the government and rebel groups and to report truce violations.
The AU said a statement received on Sunday that its chairman Alpha Oumar Konare had left on a two-day trip to Darfur to push the warring parties to respect the ceasefire deal. The AU said ceasefire monitors were expected in Darfur within a week.
Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail told reporters on Saturday that the government responsibility was to punish any movement by any force outside the demarcated area.