Southern rebel chief Garang rejects links to Darfur

LONDON, Sept 28 (Reuters) – Southern Sudanese rebel chief John Garang denied on Tuesday accusations by the Sudanese government that he backed the uprising in Darfur in the west.

Garang, head of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and its political wing the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), told the BBC his parties had had no involvement in the rebellion in Darfur.

“The SPLM is absolutely not involved in Darfur,” he said. “It is the Sudan government that is solely responsible for the crisis in Darfur.”

The Darfur rebellion, launched in February last year, has forced more than one million from their homes in what the United Nations says is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

The Khartoum government this month accused Garang of backing the uprising, and said his support for western rebels could undermine talks to end 21 years of civil war in southern Sudan.

Darfur rebels say the government supports Arab militia, known as Janjaweed, to loot and burn African farming villages in a campaign of ethnic cleansing. Khartoum denies the charge, but is under intense international pressure to solve the conflict.

Peace talks to end the civil war in the south are expected to resume in Kenya in October. Garang said that success at the talks was crucial to achieving peace in the south and in Darfur.

He said a coalition of troops from the SPLA, the government and the African Union could be sent to Darfur if a coalition government was formed between the SPLM and the ruling National Congress Party as agreed in accords signed in May.

Outstanding issues remain before the accord takes effect.

The southern conflict, which pits rebels in the mainly Christian or animist south against the Islamic government in Khartoum, has killed about two million people since 1983.