UNITED NATIONS Nov 15 (Reuters) - The U.N. peacekeeping chief on Tuesday
condemned an alliance between rebels in Sudan's conflict-torn Darfur region
and southern border states, saying it was counterproductive and would spark
more violence.
"This represents a further step in a pattern of escalation that is
counterproductive," Herve Ladsous, head of the Department of Peacekeeping
Operations, told the U.N. Security Council.
"The United Nations continues to stress that all parties to the different
conflicts between the government of Sudan and its peripheries need to return
to the table of negotiations and resolve their differences through political
dialogue."
Rebels in Sudan's Darfur and the troubled southern states bordering on South
Sudan said on Saturday they had formed an alliance to topple the government
of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in Khartoum. [ID:nL5E7MC14L]
Sudan has accused South Sudan, which split away as an independent country in
July, of having helped set up the alliance and called it an act of
aggression.
Analysts said the new alliance showed closer coordination among various
rebel groups left in Sudan after the South seceded under the terms of a 2005
peace agreement.
Sudan's army is fighting separate insurgencies in the western region of
Darfur as well as in the southern states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile
bordering South Sudan.
Violence in the joint border region has led to tensions between Khartoum and
South Sudan.
The United Nations accused Sudan this week of having bombed a refugee camp
in South Sudan, a charge denied by Khartoum. [ID:nN1E7AA17J] Khartoum and
Juba accuse each other of backing rebels in each other's territories.
The north Sudanese government rejected the accusation and said there were no
refugee camps in the area, but warned that Khartoum had the right to pursue
rebels there. (Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Jackie Frank)
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Received on Tue Nov 15 2011 - 17:37:48 EST