| Playing The Blame Game: Darfur Edition |
Militiamen backed by the Sudanese government have killed 30 people in fresh attacks in Darfur, threatening new peace talks under way in Nigeria, rebel groups said yesterday. The Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) said 17 people were killed in Korbia in northern Darfur on Saturday and 13 died in attacks on Jabamara in the west on Sunday.  An SLA spokesman, Abdulrahman Musa, said fighting was continuing in Jabamara yesterday, adding that the rebel groups had lodged a complaint with the African Union (AU), the mediator in the talks which has 3,000 troops in Darfur. | "Yeah. All these gummint troops keeps gettin' in the way of our militatin'. I tell you what, this rebel bidness is hard enough 'thout gettin' shot at..." |
"In the final analysis, we believe these [ceasefire] violations would not create a conducive environment to reach a settlement during this round of talks," Mr Musa said at a joint news conference with the JEM. | Thank you, Governor Blanco. Over to you, Mayor Nagin... |
A spokesman for the Sudanese government delegation at the talks said the two towns allegedly attacked were under AU control and it was up to the AU to confirm or deny violence. "If they're talking about bandits, then we don't control bandits," he added. | Thank you, Mayor Nagin. Over to you, Secretary Chertoff... |
The AU said preliminary investigations found no proof of fresh fighting in Darfur, a vast desert region in western Sudan. "We have asked the SLA to give us the co-ordinate of the position where these attacks have taken place. As soon as they do that, we shall send our team to investigate and establish whether indeed such attacks took place or not," said the AU's chief mediator, Baba Gana Kingibe. He said that the rebels had considered boycotting the talks but were persuaded to await the outcome of the AU investigation. |