UN to probe Darfur 'bombings'

2008-11-15 23:05

Khartoum - The UN-led peacekeeping mission in Darfur said on Saturday it is investigating rebel accusations that the Sudanese government bombed the territory shortly after announcing a ceasefire.

"We received information about bombing in North Darfur and we are trying to confirm this information from our troops on the ground," Major Ahmed Salah, deputy military spokesperson for the mission, told AFP by telephone.

The Sudanese military was not reachable for comment, but at least three senior rebels accused the government of attacking North Darfur.

President Omar al-Beshir on Wednesday called an immediate ceasefire provided that a monitoring mechanism was set up in Darfur, where UN officials say up to 300 000 people have died since 2003.

Khartoum says 10 000 people have died.

"Yesterday (Friday) they started bombing from the morning. The Antonovs were moving from 07:00 to midday.

"There were also bombings for two days before," said Ibrahim al-Hillo, from one faction of the nebulous Sudan Liberation Army.

'President Omar al-Beshir is a liar'

Hillo said the attacks around the villages of Kurbia and Umraik left two boys wounded, one person dead and two people missing as well as decimating livestock.

"I want to tell the international community, he [President Omar al-Beshir] is a liar... so how can we respond to that [ceasefire]," he said.

Tahir el-Faki, a London-based member of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) also accused the government air force of bombing Kurbia on Friday.

"We have credible and reliable sources from Darfur yesterday (Friday) saying that the Sudan goverment air force carried out a campaign of aerial bombardment in the village of Kurbia targeting what is thought to be some SLA fighters," he said.

Faki, chair of JEM's legislative assembly, said his information came from rebel commanders in the area and the omda, or leader, of Kurbia.

He had no information about human casualties, but said a substantial number of animals were killed.

"This is a clear violation of what al-Beshir announced... This is a systematic pattern," said Faki.

Nimir Mohammed Abdelrahman, another SLA spokesperson, also accused the government of attacks in the wider Disa area, some distance from the location given by the other two rebels speaking to AFP.

Propaganda stunt

The reports came as African Union chair Jakaya Kikwete urged the Khartoum government and rebels to resume peace talks in bid to restore stability to western Sudan's region of Darfur, where conflict has raged since February 2003.

Rebels on Wednesday dismissed as a propaganda stunt Beshir's announcement of a ceasefire and a call for a campaign to disarm militias.

Sudan has sought to stall legal proceedings since the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in July demanded an arrest warrant for Beshir on 10 counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

- AFP