Darfur rebels make plea to former ally amid fighting

DARFUR rebels called on a former ally to rejoin their ranks yesterday as a top UN envoy said the government had lost two major battles in the western region, with reports of “very high” losses.

Sudan’s government signed a peace accord in May with one of three rebel factions. But since returning to Khartoum, the head of that group — former rebel Minni Arcua Minnawi — has lost ground in Darfur and been sidelined on the political scene.

“Minni was betrayed by the international community and the government,” said Khalil Ibrahim, a senior member of a new rebel alliance called the National Redemption Front (NRF).

“Minni has to come back and join us. He is our brother and he can come back — this is his only choice,” he said.

Mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003 accusing the central government of marginalising the vast region.

Far from ending the bloodshed that experts say has killed 200,000 and forced 2.5 million from their homes, the May accord escalated the violence with infighting between rebel factions and clashes between the NRF and the government.

Mr Minnawi himself has complained of slow implementation of the peace deal, under which he became a senior member of Sudan’s presidency with special powers over Darfur.

The UN envoy in Sudan, Jan Pronk, said the government had lost two major battles with the NRF in north Darfur near the border with Chad — in Umm Sidr in September and in Kari Yari earlier this month.

“The losses seem to have been very high,” he wrote on his web site www.janpronk.nl. “Reports speak about hundreds of casualties in each of the two battles, many wounded soldiers and many taken as prisoner.”

“The morale in the government army in north Darfur has gone down, some generals have been sacked; soldiers have refused fighting,” Mr Pronk added.

The NRF claimed victory in both battles. The Sudanese army accused the government in Chad of supporting both rebel attacks.

Mr Pronk said the government had responded by mobilising militias and moving troops and military hardware into the area.

Darfuris call Arab militias, armed by the government to quell the rebellion, Janjaweed.

The Janjaweed stand accused of a campaign of rape, murder and pillage called genocide by Washington. Khartoum denies genocide, but the International Criminal Court is investigating alleged war crimes in Darfur.