Khartoum accuses south Sudan of aiding Darfur rebel group

Khartoum accuses south Sudan of aiding Darfur rebel group

(AFP) –KHARTOUM — The Sudanese army on Saturday accused the armed forces of southern Sudan of aiding Darfuri rebels, a day after clashes in a region between the country’s north and south close to Darfur.

On Friday, the Sudanese army clashed with fighters of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) near Al-Meirem, a sector bordering the south’s North Bahr al-Ghazal and the north’s South Kordofan, an army spokesman said.

South Kordofan is a state of central Sudan strategically located between the south of the country and Darfur.

“The JEM fled from the southern side of the border and was received by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA),” Khartoum’s army spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saad told AFP.

“The SPLA evacuated the JEM’s wounded towards the towns of Juba, Yei and even to Uganda. This is unacceptable,” said Saad.

Both Khartoum and the SPLA, meanwhile, denied reports that the Sudanese army had bombed SPLA positions.

“There was no bombardment of SPLA positions. There were clashes between a Darfur rebel group and the Sudanese army in South Kordofan,” SPLA spokesman Philip Aguer said.

“One of the bombs fell on the side of south Sudan. We have discussed the matter with the Sudanese army. It was unintended. The matter is closed,” the spokesman said.

JEM spokesman Ahmed Hussein Adam said the army had bombed rebel fighters and civilians up until Saturday morning. “But it’s not true that the SPLA… is giving military aid to the JEM,” he said by telephone from Doha.

A delegation from the rebel group met peace mediators in the Qatari capital on Saturday and afterwards Adam said the group was ready to resume negotiations with Khartoum.

“We have handed the mediation a written paper representing our vision for a comprehensive solution,” he told reporters.

“We will do our best to manage a transparent and constructive dialogue to find a strategic solution to the region’s crisis.”

Adam called JEM’s presence in Doha “a serious signal that the movement prefers a peaceful solution although it is capable of other options.”

JEM is working on creating “a broad front of resistance, involving all the armed factions” in Darfur in case talks with Khartoum break down, the spokesman said.

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