afrol News - Sudan wants rebel leaders

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Sudan
Politics | Society | Human rights
Sudan wants rebel leaders

afrol News, 14 May - Sudan wants the international community to list the Darfur rebel that unleashed the latest attacks on Omdurman as a terrorist group.

Sudan also wants the leaders of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) to be arrested and handed over to Khartoum authorities. JEM officials are believed to be in Britain, Egypt and Libya.

The official death toll of the weekend attack on Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city across the River Nile, has been put at more than 220 people, but independent sources put it at over 500.

The Defence Minister, General Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein, had briefed a closed door parliamentary session about the rebel incursion, which left 93 soldiers and 13 policemen dead. About 30 civilians, including 2 Egyptians and 2 Senegalese died in the crossfire. He said many more had also died in fighting in neighbouring Kordofan province.

Some lawmakers demanded the resignation of the top security echelons, including the Ministers of Defence, Interior and National Intelligence Services for failing to repel the incursion in advance.

General Hussein said 300 rebel vehicles were involved in the Omdurman attack.

The attack resulted to a diplomatic row between Sudan and neighbouring Chad. N'djamena authorities denied supporting the rebel group led by Khalil Ibrahim and decided to close their borders, accusing Khartoum of planning to launch an attack.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has also blamed Israel for supporing JEM fighters.

On Tuesday, the UN Security Council deplored the JEM attack, but warned all sides to be wary of retaliatory action against civilians.

In a statement, the Council called on all sides to to immediate stop the fight, respect international humanitarian law and commit to peacefully resolving all outstanding issues in the Darfur conflict.

"The Security Council urges restraint by all parties, and in particular, warns that no retaliatory action should be taken against civilian populations, or that has an impact on stability in the region," it said, urging the region's states to implement their commitments under the Dakar Accord and "cooperate with a view to putting an end to the activities of armed groups and their attempts to seize power by force."