Date: Fri, 30 May 2014 22:56:43 +0200
Sudan rebels threaten Khartoum attack
JEM leader Jibril Ibrahim threatens repeat of 2009 attack, says government
facing "collapse"
Written by : <http://www.aawsat.net/author/ahmedyounis> Ahmed Younis
on : Friday 30 May, 2014
Khartoum, Asharq Al-Awsat-The leader of Sudan's Justice and Equality
Movement (JEM) threatened a repeat of its May 2008 attack on Khartoum and
Omdurman, saying that the central government is facing "the final chapter of
the collapse of the regime."
In a rare statement to the press, JEM leader Jibril Ibrahim spoke to Asharq
Al-Awsat via intermediaries, threatening a repeat of the 2008 attack that
marked the group as the key anti-government force in the longstanding Darfur
conflict.
"The government has moved its forces from Darfur to central Sudan to be
closer to the capital," Ibrahim said amid reports that the local commander
of government forces had been killed by Sudan People's Liberation
Movement-North (SPLM-N), an allied rebel militia.
SPLM-N forces successfully re-seized the strategically important region of
Daldako in South Kordofan from Rapid Support-2, a controversial
counter-insurgency unit that had only "liberated" it from rebel control last
week. Fighting is ongoing between government and rebel forces in the
southern province.
Commenting on Khartoum's use of counter-insurgency units, Ibrahim told
Asharq Al-Awsat: "It seems that there is a decision to dissolve the Sudanese
Army in favor of special militias that operate outside the law."
Responding to a question from Asharq Al-Awsat, Ibrahim did not rule out a
JEM attack on Khartoum along the lines of "Operation Long Arm," the May 2008
attack that marked the first time the capital was attacked by rebel forces.
"To be sure, this operation could take place again, but on an even larger
scale, particularly after JEM joined the Sudan Revolutionary Front and
transferred its operations to places close to the seat of power, rather than
fighting in the distant desert, which does not affect those in power."
The JEM leader threatened also "revenge" against the government for the
death of his brother, Khalil Ibrahim, who founded JEM. "Investigations into
the assassination of the martyr [Khalil Ibrahim] are ongoing, and we will
uncover the details of this crime and who was behind it, and JEM will pursue
the criminals responsible for this one by one," said Jibril Ibrahim.
Khalil Ibrahim was killed in December 2011. The Sudanese Army says he died
during clashes against government forces in North Kordofan, but JEM claims
that he was killed in a missile strike by an "unidentified aircraft,"
alleging that regional or international parties had colluded with officials
in Khartoum.
The JEM leader criticized the national dialogue currently being conducted by
Khartoum. He said the Sudan Revolutionary Front-of which JEM is a key
member, alongside SPLM factions-had already put forward its plan for a
comprehensive political solution in Sudan, but that their vision had been
rejected by embattled President Omar Al-Bashir.
He pledged that the Sudan Revolutionary Front would continue to work to
topple the Bashir government regardless of the results of the national
dialogue. "The SPLM is committed to its position within the Revolutionary
Front and its rejection of partial solutions in favor of the project to find
a comprehensive solution," he told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Members of the Justice and Equality Movement, a rebel group in Sudan's
Darfur conflict. (AFP/Getty Images)
Members of the Justice and Equality Movement, a rebel group in Sudan's
Darfur conflict. (AFP/Getty Images)
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