Sudan denies violation of Darfur truce
By Opheera McDoom

May 22, 2006 -(Reuters) Sudan on Monday denied Darfur rebel reports its troops attacked their camps in violation of a peace agreement signed this month to end the conflict which has killed tens of thousands of people.

On Sunday the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) faction that signed a deal with Khartoum on May 5 to end three years of fighting said the government and its allied militia attacked its bases in Dar es Salaam in North Darfur.

On Monday the same faction said the government was using Antonov planes as air cover for large troop movements in North Darfur state in preparation for an attack.

"They flew Antonov planes for two hours this morning," said al-Tayyib Khamis, a spokesman for Minni Arcua Minnawi's SLA faction. "They are trying to get as much territory as possible before the U.N. troops come in," he added.

But the government strongly denied the report.

"We the armed forces did not attack any areas, not Dar es Salaam or anywhere," said the armed forces spokesman's office in Khartoum. "There are many empty accusations flying around but none of them are true."

The African Union (AU) said Arab militias, known as Janjaweed, had been massing in both North and South Darfur states and had exchanged fire with its soldiers. But they could not confirm any government attacks on rebels.

Clashes have continued unabated despite the peace deal between militias and rebels. Smaller clashes between rebel factions also continue. But the government, which the United Nations says armed the Janjaweed to fight the rebels, denies it is using the militias.

"The armed forces do not need to use militias. If we are attacked we have the right to defend ourselves and will do so," said the army official, who declined to be named.

JANJAWEED, GOVERNMENT CLASHES

The Janjaweed stand accused of a widespread campaign of rape, looting and killing which drove 2 million Darfuris from their homes to miserable camps across the vast desert region.

The government admits arming some tribes to fight the rebels in early 2003 but denies any links to the Janjaweed, calling them outlaws.

In a report issued on Monday, the United Nations said it had unconfirmed reports of clashes between the Janjaweed and the armed forces in South Darfur.

"Seven armed militia were killed, two arrested. Two Government soldiers were reported killed, two injured," the statement said.

The unconfirmed reports came from Sudan's state security who told the United Nations the government were trying to disarm the militias in South Darfur, who were resisting.

Under the peace deal the government is to present a plan for the disarmament of Janjaweed by June 22.

The government has not disarmed the Janjaweed despite U.N. Security Council resolutions and agreements they have signed agreeing to do so over the past 18 months.

The cash-strapped African Union force is expected to be replaced in Darfur by U.N. peacekeepers. The 7,000 AU troops have been unable to stop attacks on civilians in the vast region the size of France.

Recently, they have been attacked by the very refugees they are in Darfur to protect as frustration grows in the camps over a lack of peace after three years conflict. Supporters of two rebel factions who did not sign the deal have also protested.

Sudan prior to the peace deal had refused a U.N. force and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is sending top diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi for high-level talks in Khartoum on Tuesday hoping to secure a breakthrough.

From: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L22555273.htm