Sudan not disbanding pro-government groups

KHARTOUM, Sudan, June 23, 2004 (UPI) — Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir says his decision to disarm armed militias in the embattled region of Darfur did not include pro-government groups.

He also Wednesday accused unnamed “foreign parties” of “making trouble.”

He said Forces of Popular Defense and the Force of Popular Police, which comprise volunteer militia operating under the orders of the Sudanese Army and Sudanese police, will not be disbanded.

Disarmament will be limited to the outlawed militias, including the Janjaweed, which includes militiamen of Arab origin, and African militias which “are the results of the struggle over the limited natural resources of the Western sector.”

He charged foreign parties are instigating trouble in Eastern Sudan on the border with Eritrea where camps for training rebels are being set up.

The Sudanese government and the separatist Sudan People’s Liberation Army led by John Garang signed an agreement earlier this month to end the country’s protracted civil war.