Cairo - The Arab League said Thursday it would suspend its
contact with the Darfur rebel group of the Justice and Equality
Movement (JEM) over the group's involvement in an attack on the
Sudanese capital Khartoum earlier this month.
Rebels from JEM attacked Omdurman, a suburb in western Khartoum,
on May 10, leaving more than 200 people dead.
'JEM tried to widen the conflict outside Darfur, which would add
to the suffering of the Sudanese people. The international community
and the Arab League refuse this,' an Arab League official, Samir
Hosny, told reporters.
The movement has emerged as a loser after the attack as many sides
in the international community call for excluding it from the Darfur
peace talks, the official said.
The movement along with the larger Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) are
the two main rebel groups fighting in Sudan's Darfur region.
The conflict in Sudan's western province was sparked off when the
Sudanese government sided with Arab nomads after a devastating famine
in 1987 against the province's African farming communities.
Both movements, JEM and SLA, have been leading the fight against
the government and the Arab militia, the Janjaweed.
Rounds of peace talks were held under United Nations auspices to
resolve the conflict.
In an interview with the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat
published Thursday, JEM leader, Khalil Ibrahim, said he chose to stay
in Omdurman for 72 hours after the attack rather than go into hiding.
'It was members of the (Sudanese) regime who went into special
hiding places underground,' Ibrahim said.
The main grievance of Darfur rebel leaders is that the Arab
population of Sudan has a disproportionate representation at the top
levels of government.
Ibrahim said the attack on Omdurman achieved its goals but the
peace option was still open.
'We have taken the decision (to launch the attack) late last year
to end the suffering of our people in Darfur. This would be either
through peaceful means or war with the aim of unseating the regime,'
Ibrahim said.
The rebel leader threatened to launch more assaults in Khartoum.
'We will never again wage the war in Darfur. We have reached
Khartoum and we will wage it (a war) there if the regime does not
make a real peace,' Ibrahim said.
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