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| Darfur rebels kill 50 Sudanese troops |
| 2004-03-01 |
| Rebels in Sudanâs western Darfur region said on Saturday they have killed more than 50 soldiers and pro-government militiamen in response to an army offensive. âOur forces have won a victory against government forces and their allied militias in repelling an offensive against villages in the Karnei region,â a spokesman for the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) told AFP by telephone here. The Karnei region is 90 kilometers from Al-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state. SLM spokesman Hassan Ibrahim said âmore than 50 soldiers and members of pro-government militias were killedâ and that the SLM had snatched arms and munitions during the military raid with air support from Antonov planes. Meanwhile, a newspaper said yesterday Khartoum has suspended contacts with the umbrella opposition group, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), for admitting rebels fighting in Sudanâs Darfur region into its ranks. The Al Rai Al Aam daily said Vice President Ali Osman Taha informed NDA envoy Jaafer Ahmed Abdallah that Khartoum had decided to stop contacts until the NDA âcorrects its decision to admit the Darfur rebelsâ as members. The government and the NDA had been meeting to implement an agreement they signed in Jeddah in December which they had hailed as a major step toward reconciling the nation and ending a 20-year civil war. Taha told the NDA envoy that the decision had been taken by the ruling National Congress (NC) party because the Jeddah agreement with NDA chairman Mohamed Osman Al-Mirghani called for rejecting violence. He recalled that the rebels in the western Darfur region were still fighting government forces, according to the independent newspaper. The NDA said in mid-February that during a meeting in Asmara, where it is based, its leadership unanimously accepted a request from the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), the main rebel grouping in Darfur, to become a member. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |