afrol News, 15 May - The government of Sudan has announced suspension of dialuge with the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), a Darfur rebel group accused of unleashing fatal attacks on Odurman at the weekend.

Sudanese officials said the international community is already informed about the decision, and is at the brink of consulting it regarding negotiations with other Darfur armed groups.

The attack, believed to have been led by the JEM leader, Khalil Ibrahim claimed hundreds of lives, including fighters from both sides.

Khartoum blamed Chad of backing the rebels and cut off diplomatic ties with N'djamena. But N'djamena authorities closed their border, accusing Sudan of attempting to launch attacks.

President Omar al-Bashir also accused the internal elements of conspiring with the rebels. He also blamed the Israel government of financing the JEM attack.

Sudan has offered US $250,000 as ransom for information on the whereabouts of Mr Ibrahim who is reported to be in a safe location in Darfur.

A top United Nations officials briefed the Security Council on the work of the hybrid UN-African Union mission in Darfur (UNAMID), fearing that the region's conflict could soon lapse into another major cycle of violence and large-scale human displacement unless the parties retreat from their recent state of confrontation.

UN Under-Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, said the recent deterioration in the security situation has been "deeply disturbing."

"We are very concerned that the movement of significant numbers of JEM fighters from Darfur all the way to Khartoum went undetected and took both UNAMID and the Government by surprise," Guéhenno said.

"The incident underscores the serious shortfalls in the Mission’s resources, especially aerial reconnaissance capabilities."

The fears were allayed at a time when Sudanese armed forces bombed rebel positions and villages, targeted banditry on UN staff and eruption of violence between different rebel groups escalated in the region.

The UN official said these developments threaten efforts by the UN and AU Special Envoys to bring the warring parties in the troubled region together for peace talks. He also said this could lead to a rapid intensification of the proxy war between Sudan and Chad.

Mr Guéhenno later told reporters that unless all sides shun violence, thousands of people could be forcibly displaced from their homes in the next few months. Already, 150,000 internally displaced persons have fled their homes in Darfur this year mainly due to violence.

“Our great concern is [ensuring] that it doesn’t lead to further escalation,” he said. “It’s really essential now that all actors move away from the brink of going into another cycle of violence. Humanitarian law has to be respected by everybody.”

Mr. Guéhenno has welcomed the Council's unanimous support for an enhanced deployment plan of UNAMID, but urged the need to back the support with actual troops and real political will.

By staff writer

© afrol News

Related pages and feature

Current afrol News Top Stories