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| Africa: Horn |
| Bashir sez Darfur rebellion has been suppressed |
| 2004-02-10 |
| President Omar al-Bashir has said the army has crushed a year-old rebellion in the Darfur region of western Sudan, but a spokesman for one of three rebel groups insisted they remained in position. Bashir is hardly the most trustworthy of sources, but the Darfur rebels look like they’re suing for peace talks and the Sudanese military is reported attacking towns on the Chadian side of the border now. My guess is that any major rebel formations were probably pulverized (along with lots and lots of civilians) and that the remnants have likely either fled into Chad or dispersed for the time being. One other interesting note is that Hassan Turabi remains a free man despite claims that he orchestrated the whole thing. So were those charges false or did he just cut a deal with Bashir? In a military communique put out by his office, al-Bashir declared the "end of military operations" and said all three component states in the troubled area bordering Chad were "entirely in government hands." He called for a general amnesty throughout the region provided that all rebels surrender their weapons to police within a month, and for the organisation of a conference on "development and peace" in the Darfur area. But al-Bashir warned: "The armed forces are prepared to dissuade all those who would threaten the security of our citizens." Colonel Abd Allah Abd al-Karim, military spokesman for the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) - one of the rebel groups fighting against government troops in the Darfur region - quickly denied al-Bashir’s claim. "This information is false. We still control all of our positions in the Darfur region, notably in Jabal Marrah and Jabal Moun," two mountainous districts, Abd al-Karim told AFP by telephone. Abd al-Karim, who said he was speaking from the Jabal Marrah area, said his movement had been observing a unilateral ceasefire for over a week for "humanitarian reasons", mainly to allow refugees to move within the region. But he promised "military surprises in the coming days", without elaborating. The other two rebel movements - the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance (SFDA) - could not be reached for comment. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |