Over 100 Darfur rebels give themselves up to army

CAIRO, Dec 21 (Reuters) – A group of more than 100 Darfur rebels have handed themselves over to the Sudanese army in the town of Nyala, near an area where fighting had recently flared, a security source in Darfur said on Tuesday.

“A group of rebels handed themselves in … They refused to continue the war,” the source, who asked not to be named, told Reuters, speaking by telephone from Darfur.

He said the rebels from the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), one of the two main groups fighting in west Sudan, handed themselves over on Monday with their weapons after contacts between the two sides.

SLA officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

The area around Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, has seen some renewed fighting recently, despite efforts at peace talks in Nigeria to shore up a shaky ceasefire.

Rebels walked out of peace talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja last week, accusing the government of launching fresh assaults in the region. The government has also accused rebels of violating a ceasefire reached in April.

The government said on Sunday it would stop fighting and had asked mediators to request rebel forces do the same.

But African Union troops monitoring the ceasefire said a helicopter was shot at as it headed to Labado, 65 km (40 miles) east of Nyala, indicating that the ceasefire was still not holding. It was not clear who was to blame for the shooting.