Govt: Sudan rebels defeated
2008-05-10 22:02
Khartoum - Darfur rebels fought with
Sudanese government troops in a western suburb of the capital on
Saturday and said their aim was to take power in Khartoum, but
the government said their attack had been defeated.
Heavy gunfire and artillery was heard in Omdurman, across
the River Nile from the heart of Khartoum, capital of Africa's
biggest country. Helicopters and armoured vehicles headed for
the fighting and an overnight curfew was declared.
"The main aim of this failed terrorist sabotage attack was
to provoke media coverage and let people imagine that they had
the ability to enter Khartoum," Mandour al-Mahdi, the political
secretary from the dominant ruling National Congress Party told
state television.
"Thank God this attempt has been completely defeated. Some
high level JEM commanders were killed," he said, referring to
the Darfur Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebels.
It is the first time that fighting has reached the capital
in decades of conflict between the traditionally Arab-dominated
central government in Khartoum and rebels from peripheral
regions that complain of neglect.
The rebels said earlier they had taken control of Omdurman
and were now trying to oust President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.
"We are now trying to control Khartoum. God willing we will
take power, it's just a matter of time," senior JEM commander
Abdel Aziz el-Nur Ashr told Reuters by telephone.
"We have support from inside Khartoum even from within the
armed forces."
Sudan's economy, driven by increasing oil production, has
grown rapidly since a peace deal between north and south ended
civil war in 2005, but that agreement did not cover the conflict
that erupted in Darfur five years ago.
International experts estimate some 200 000 people have died
and 2.5 million made homeless in five years of fighting in
Darfur after mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms accusing
central government of neglect.
The United States describes the conflict in Darfur as
genocide, but Khartoum rejects that term and says only around
10 000 people have been killed.