A Sudanese opposition Islamist party said yesterday the government had arrested three of its leaders and 22 other members for having links to rebels in the western Darfur region of Africaâs largest country.
| Yep. This is starting to look pretty complicated... |
Witnesses also said Sudanese authorities raided a Khartoum university dormitory yesterday and arrested 50 members of the politically active Darfur Studentsâ Union there. The Popular National Congress (PNC) party led by prominent Islamist Hassan Turabi denied any direct contact with two main Darfur rebel groups.
| Nothing about indirect contact, though... |
The groups launched a revolt in February, accusing Khartoum of marginalizing the remote area. The United Nations says the Darfur strife has displaced more than 600,000 people and warns of a humanitarian crisis there. âThe government arrested these people... because they are from the same tribe as the rebels,â PNC official Mohamed Al-Amin Khalifa told Reuters, adding that he felt Khartoum wanted to re-arrest Turabi but held back because of international pressure.
| And Turabi seems to be involved with the rebels in Darfur... |
Turabi, a former ally in President Omar Bashirâs Islamist government, was released in October after two and a half years of detention for crimes against the state. Government officials declined to comment on the arrests but the state-owned Al-Anbaa newspaper quoted Bashir yesterday as saying Khartoumâs priority was to âwipe out the rebelsâ. But the PNC said the government was wrong to target it because it offered the best chance of finding a peace deal, thanks to historical links to the Darfur-based rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and leaders who came from the region. Khalifa said JEM was formed after splitting from the PNC in 1999. But JEM denied the claim. âWe are an independent group with no links at all with the PNC or Turabi,â JEM Chairman Khalil Ibrahim told Reuters.
The other main Darfur rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), signed a truce with Khartoum in September but peace talks broke down earlier this month with both sides blaming each other. The SLA also said JEM was allied to Turabiâs party.
| So Turabi seems to be running a backdoor revolution against Omar. This'll bear some watching, just to keep from becoming too confused. |
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