Sudanese rebels reject Egyptian role in Darfur

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Aug 16, 2004 (PANA) — The rebel Sudan Liberation Movement
(SLM) has said it would reject any role by Egypt to help resolve
the crisis in western Darfur, saying the Arab nation does not
exhibit impartiality in the conflict.

“Egypt is not competent to contribute in resolving the dispute in
Darfur region,” SLM, one of the two main rebel groups in the
Darfur region, said in a statement to PANA Monday.

The group was reacting to a call by Adam Al Nur, an assistant to
SLM leader Abdul Wahid Mohamed Ahmed Nur, for Egypt to intervene
in the Darfur conflict.

The statement announced the dismissal of Adam Al Nur from his
post within the movement, charging that he was “an agent working
for Egyptian interests.”

The rebel SLM, which appears uncomfortable with the African Union
efforts to end the conflict in Darfur, insists on greater
international role by powerful countries like the United States,
Britain and Germany, as well as the United Nations.

Meanwhile, the rebels have dismissed reports of a split within
their ranks as “sheer Khartoum propaganda calculated to undermine
the movement’s credibility.”

Since the crisis in Darfur escalated in early 2003, estimates put
the number of deaths at 40,000, while nearly 1.2 million others
are internally displaced and 200,000 more languish in refugee
camps in neighbouring Chad.