Sudan accuses Israel of helping rebels

AMMAN, Jordan, Oct 12, 2004 (UPI) — The Sudanese consul in Amman, Abdullah Othman, accused Israel Tuesday of nurturing rebel movements in Darfur, the troubled area in western Sudan.

Othman charged that Israeli military planes transported rebel leaders from Darfur to Washington where they met with John Garang, chief of the Sudan’s People Liberation Army, which has been fighting for 20 years for secession of southern Sudan.

Othamn did not say when the rebels actually visited Washington but claimed that Israel is “encouraging rebellion in Darfur.”

He said Israel set up a military training camp in Eritrea to train Darfur rebels.

He made the accusations during a news conference in Amman with a Jordanian medical team which visited Darfur recently and inspected the conditions of an estimated 1 million refugees.