From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sat May 15 2010 - 18:30:07 EDT
Sudan army says killed 108 Darfur rebels
Sat May 15, 2010 5:04pm GMT
* Army says key bastion seized from JEM rebels
* Rebels say Darfur now "at war", chance of deal "remote"
(Adds analyst quote)
By Andrew Heavens
KHARTOUM, May 15 (Reuters) - Sudan's army said it seized a key rebel
stronghold in Darfur and killed 108 insurgents late on Friday, dealing a
heavy blow to already floundering peace talks in the remote western region.
The rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) dismissed the report, saying
it had withdrawn from the Jabel Moun area voluntarily days earlier to spare
the population government bombing raids and shelling.
But it said other recent clashes showed Sudan's government had chosen to go
back to war and the chances of finding a negotiated solution were "very
remote".
JEM said last week it was suspending peace talks with the government,
accusing it of breaking a ceasefire and failing to honour an initial peace
deal signed in Qatari capital Doha in February.
JEM is one of two rebel forces that took up arms against Sudan's government
in 2003, saying Khartoum marginalised the region's population and starved it
of funding.
Sudan's president Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who mobilised militias to crush the
uprising, is facing International Criminal Court (ICC) charges of
masterminding war crimes in the region.
"There was a battle between Sudan's Armed Forces and JEM yesterday," army
spokesman Al-Sawarmi Khaled told Reuters on Saturday. "There were about 108
killed from JEM and we took about 61 prisoners alive."
He said government soldiers also were killed in the attack near Chad's
border but did not have numbers.
JEM said its troops already had moved out to different areas in North and
South Darfur states, as well as the neighbouring oil-producing South
Kordofan.
Senior JEM official al-Tahir al-Feki said JEM was still prepared to return
to talks if Khartoum and international mediators agreed to a list of
demands.
"But I don't see any real prospect of negotiations or a peaceful settlement.
Because the other side does not want it ... Sudan has chosen war against
peace and we are up for it ... This is a reality. It is a state of war," he
said, adding that JEM's main negotiator had left Doha earlier on Friday.
Fouad Hikmat, an analyst from the International Crisis Group, said Khartoum
was trying to contain JEM as government officials pushed to reach a
settlement with other rebels.
"The policy is to hit (JEM) very hard so they either come to the peace talks
themselves or scatter them so they can not come together again as a credible
force," he said.
Khartoum was keen to resolve the situation in Darfur ahead of a potentially
turbulent referendum on secession in south Sudan due in January 2011.
In another sign of growing unrest, Sudan's police said its officers fought
off a JEM attack on a commercial convoy between the town of Al Deain and the
capital of south Darfur Nyala on Thursday. The police said 57 officers and
rebels were killed.
JEM told Reuters its troops came across Sudanese army forces guarding a
convoy of military vehicles and ammunition trucks and said the soldiers
fired the first shots. JEM said its forces were victorious.
Peace talks that started with JEM in February stalled when JEM objected to
Khartoum's decision to start separate discussions with Liberation and
Justice Movement rebels.
Sudan's Darfur negotiator Amin Hassan Omar told state media he would travel
to Doha on Saturday to prepare for talks with the LJM, saying JEM was no
longer serious about negotiations.
Washington accuses Khartoum of committing genocide during the seven-year
conflict which has killed 300,000 people according to one U.N. estimate.
Khartoum says 10,000 have died. (Editing by Louise Ireland)
C Thomson Reuters 2010 All rights reserved
Sudan arrests Islamist opposition leader Turabi
Sat May 15, 2010 10:04pm GMT
KHARTOUM, May 15 (Reuters) - Sudanese security forces arrested Islamist
opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi at his home, a month after Africa's
largest country held its first open elections in 24 years, party officials
said on Saturday.
"The security authorities came to his house and they took him," Turabi's
deputy Ibrahim el-Senoussi told Reuters. "We want to know why."
Turabi, who was close to President Omar Hassan al-Bashir before a bitter
power struggle and split in 1999/2000, has been in and out of jail since he
formed his Popular Congress Party.
"They were armed - they came with at least three armed vehicles and other
cars - we could not see them all," his daughter Salma Hassan told Reuters.
"They left the house here at half past midnight (2130 GMT)."
The arrest could raise tensions post elections. Turabi's party was one of
the few opposition groups which participated in the vote, which many others
boycotted over fraud concerns.
After the vote Turabi accused Bashir's ruling National Congress Party of
rigging the vote.
Also on Saturday tensions rose in Darfur after a government offensive ousted
Darfur's most militarily powerful rebel group from their West Darfur
stronghold Jabel Moun, killing 108 rebels and taking 61 prisoners, according
to the army.
The insurgent Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) dismissed reports saying
they had vacated the area days earlier to spare civilians. (Reporting by
Opheera McDoom; Editing by Matthew Jones)
C Thomson Reuters 2010 All rights reserved
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