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Sudan Tribune

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Sudan releases Chadian rebel leader

May 28, 2006 (PARIS) — Sudanese authorities released a Chadian rebel leader detained for his opposition to the participation of the Chadian rebels in Darfur conflict beside Sudanese army and militias against Darfur rebels.

A French language press release issued Sunday by the rebel Alliance Nationale de la Résistance (ANR) announced that Mahamt Sileck is finally freed by the Sudanese National Security.

Sileck was detained without charge since October last year in Dabak prison, Khartoum. He has a refugee status in France.

Sileick release comes after a campaign in favour of his liberation in which may French MPs are involved. The French Foreign Ministry since last March disclosed that Paris had engaged a series of contacts with the Sudanese authorities about him.

Amnesty International also organised a campaign for his release during last April.

His whereabouts are still unknown. Asked by Sudan Tribune Chadian opposition sources didn’t disclose his location. But they reiterated he is a secure place.

His arrest is reportedly linked to a disagreement within the ANR, and with elements of the Sudanese government, over the role of the ANR in Darfur. While his Military Chief Commander at that time Mahamat Nour was closely working with the Sudanese army and its militia in Darfur, Sileck was travelling abroad to France and western Africa for meetings with other opposition figures.

The ANR was founded in 1994/95 by a former Chadian army chief of staff, Colonel Mahamat Garfa. In 2003, Garfa, after signing a peace agreement with the Chadian authorities, rejoined the government along with some ANR members.

Many ANR members disagreed with the peace agreement, and Mahamat Abbo Sileck, who previously was the international spokesman for the ANR operating largely in Europe, took over the group’s political leadership.

He was elected as the President in 2004, but Mahamat Nour, the deputy and military commander based in Chad and Darfur, was reportedly dissatisfied with Sileck’s leadership. Sileck’s control over the ANR was therefore disputed.

In late October 2005, shortly after Sileck was arrested, Mahamat Nour formed the Rassemblement pour la Démocratie et la Liberté (RDL), composed overwhelmingly of former ANR members. It is widely reported that the RDL, shortly after its creation, received a significant increase in military assistance from the Sudanese government.

In late December, following the high profile attack on Adre, Mahamat Nour formed a new umbrella movement composed of seven other Chadian armed opposition groups opposed to President Idriss Déby, called the Front uni pour le Changement Démocratique au Tchad (FUC). The RDL remained the key player within this group. The FUC launched a coup attempt on 13 April 2006 from eastern Chad on the Chadian capital, N’Djamena.

(ST)

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