George Athor’s Letter to President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of Uganda Before his Death

The office of the Chairman and Commander in Chief of South Sudan Democratic Movement & South Sudan Defence Army (SSDM/A)

Date: Dec /16/2011

His Excellency President of Republic of Uganda

Gen. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni

I am honored to have this opportunity to meet your Excellency

December 25, 2011 (SSNA) — Our people of Southern Sudan are well known by their resistance to all sorts of oppression, they fought governments in Khartoum since independence of Sudan in 1956 until they achieved their objectives and that by having independent state, Republic of South Sudan.

The people of Southern Sudan were hoping during the interim period which the C.P.A provided that the SPLM, which was virtually controlling the rein of power in South Sudan, would be able to implement the objectives we have been fighting for since 1983. But unfortunately that did not happen. Although the government and people of Uganda stood firm with people of Southern Sudan during hard days of liberation struggle up to now, they gained the opposite. The people of Uganda who are supposed to enjoy the fruits of liberation with their brothers in the South become victims, their Women are being raped, and Men are being tortured or killed in cold blood by SPLM throughout South Sudan.

We in SSDM/A are committed to see South Sudan is liberated from this system and want people of Uganda to enjoy the fruits of liberation of new South Sudan free from racing, tribalism, corruption and nepotism.

THE MISMANGEMENT OF THE SOUTH BY THE SPLM:

The CPA provided a Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) that is virtually run by the SPLM (its share was 70%) and enjoyed full independence, financially, politically and security-wise all through the interim period. Hence, the SPLM was expected to implement its vision of the New Sudan in the South. Since its formation in 2005 up to December 2010, the GOSS has received more than 20 billion US dollars in oil revenues and, yet, it has nothing to show for it in terms of provision of services, let alone development. These resources were eaten up by rampant corruption with money going into the pockets of a few individuals through nepotism and favoritisms. At the same time government employees and the SPLA soldiers go without salaries for months. To ensure complete lack of accountability, the accounts of GOSS have never been audited since its formation in 2005.

The GOSS has miserably failed in meeting the basic functions of any government such as provision of personal and collective security for its citizens. Inter and intra tribal conflicts have recently become the order of the day in South Sudan and a lot of lives and properties have been lost as a result of these conflicts.

The GOSS has no plan of any kind for any length of time and the SPLM-dominated South Sudan Legislative Assembly, which should have acted as a watchdog on the Government, has been turned into a rubber-stamp. Statements of the President of GOSS before the Assembly for all the interim period never spelt out any government programs as would be expected in any Parliament worth the name. Furthermore, this Assembly is the first of its kind to introduce the practice of approving Government over-expenditure and call it a supplementary budget!

There is no space for political freedoms in South Sudan. The SPLM leaders, who shout loudest about political freedoms and democratic transformation in Northern Sudan, do not allow other political parties; even their colleagues in the party disagree with them about political freedom that should operate in South Sudan. This behavior is shameful for a party that is in the forefront of the call for democratic transformation. To add insult to injury, the clique imposed a sub-culture of political blackmail all over the South. Any person who is critical of the mismanagement of affairs in the South is labeled either as “bought by the Jallaba” or “an agent of the NCP”!! This language of blackmail frightened some people but could not frighten everybody.

People in Southern Sudan are frustrated by the Government’s lack of direction. They need a government that can liberate them from poverty, corruption, tribalism, insecurity and deliver them out of the present economic crisis. Above all, they yearned for a government that could have united them to face the challenges ahead.

The majority of Southerners who thought they would have changed the corrupt and inefficient Government in Juba through elections were in for a big disappointment. When the general elections were held in April 2010, the SPLM and the NCP conspired to rig the elections in the South to return the SPLM. Having got the green light from its partner in the CPA, the SPLM went into an elections rigging spree using the SPLA and the other security organs. This act more than any turned the disappointment into fury with some people taking up arms against the Government of Southern Sudan.

The armed groups that rebelled against GOSS in different parts of South Sudan have decided to come together in a later date under a united organization to be known as the South Sudan People Revolutionary Democratic Front (SSPRDF).

Before all the armed groups merge in the near future, I would like to explain the reasons behind the formation of SSDM/A. The SSDM/A emerged as a result of the dictatorship of the SPLM/A, marginalization of all the South Sudan political parties and civil society, failure to adopt a viable political road map which can galvanize and reward the Southern people for their victorious achievement of a just peace, the rampant corruption perpetrated by the SPLM-led government in Juba, neglect of the families of the martyrs in the war of liberation and the rigging of the people’s vote by the SPLM/A in the last elections.

The Movement seeks to replace the corrupt and inefficient clique regime in Juba by a transparent and accountable transitional government agreed upon by all the political forces in South Sudan. At the end of the interim period, general elections will be carried out all over South Sudan to elect a Constituent Assembly that will promulgate the permanent constitution of the Republic of South Sudan.

The Objectives:

The principal objectives of the South Sudan Democratic Movement & Army shall be the establishment of a free, just, democratic and decentralized system of governance and a social contract based on the free will and popular participation of all the people of South Sudan. This is preceded by other minor objectives, here below:

1. To orient the life of people to plant patriotism and make the spirit of cooperation (unity), fraternity and love as the basic attachment among the citizens.

2. To fight corruption and crimes to maintain discipline for the peace of the society.

3.  To maintain the culture of cooperation within businesses in the society which adheres to criteria of equality and justice using machinery of tolerance and peaceful resolution of problems through negotiation and judiciary.

4. To raise the values of patriotism and defend security by establishing military forces and to take care of militants of army who are alive or injured or martyrs’ families and also to encourage individuals of the society to respond to the call of liberation and struggle at any time and any place.

5. To intensify educational systems and to encourage the researches and scientific experiments and arts to develop the culture of the society and promote the African Sudanese traditions.

6. To organize seminars, lectures, symposiums, and workshops for the military, women, youth and students to accredit SSDM/A as the sole liberator for equality and freedoms.

7. To ensure social security, spirit of peace and liberation are the fundamental principles of nation-building without any segregations or discriminations on ethnicity, social-class, or race and religion.

The Methods and Mechanism:

The South Sudan Democratic Movement/Army explores all the peaceful mechanisms in its general activities and mobilization within the frame work of valid laws and respect of human dignity. These include:

1. To interact, coordinate and cooperate with other political organizations and the civil society on the common affairs of serving and liberation.

2. Publicity and announcement through mobilization of communities, media advocacy, social functions, direct communications with people, conferences and rallies.

3. To devise all possible methods to power either via democracy or defuse the oppressors and tyranny group on gun barrels and establish a transparent and accountable government in the south.

4. To launch international cooperation with political institutions in the sisterly and friendly countries for aids and participation in any regional and world conferences.

Signed by:

Lt. Gen. George Athor Deng

The Chairman of South Sudan Democratic Movement (S.S.D.M) & The Commander in Chief of South Sudan Defense Army (S.S.D.A).

http://www.southsudannewsagency.com/opinion/articles/george-athors-letter-to-the-president-of-uganda-before-his-death

Final Communique The Sudan Revolutionary Front The Meeting of the High Political Committee 19 – 21 December 2011

 

The High Political Committee of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) convened its regular meeting that addressed the following issues;

 

1-      The humanitarian situations in the war affected areas.

 

2-      The Manasser sit in protest and the human rights situation in Sudan.

 

3-      Contacts with the Sudanese political forces.

 

4-      The plan for a regional and international tour to explain the SRF positions and mobilize supports for the Sudanese people struggle.

 

5-      Review the proposals of the political vision and programs committee.

 

6-      Discuss and review arrangements for the first SRF convention.

 

The meeting reached the followings; 

 

In respect of the humanitarian crisis, the meeting affirms that the continuation of civilians’ bombardment by the regime and its refusal of safe corridors for the delivery of humanitarian needs are indeed war crimes and the SRF demands the following;

 

a-      Immediate cessation of civilians’ bombardments and call upon the international community to take up its civilians’ protection responsibility.

 

b-      Open safe corridors for the delivery of humanitarian needs for those affected by the war.

 

c-      The formation of an international commission to investigate genocidal crimes and the human rights violations. The meeting also demanded the release of all prisoners of war and detainees.

 

The people of the Manasser area sit in protest; The political committee affirms its support to all people affected by construction of dams and fully stands with the Manasser people and call upon all members of the SRF to stand in solidarity with them and all those affected by dams’ construction to work together with the SRF to overthrew the National Congress Party (NCP) regime.

 

The political committee affirms its condemnation to all human rights violations that are committed on daily basis. The SRF is in the process of forming a legal committee from the lawyers and legal members of the SRF to follow up and monitor human rights violation cases, defend and release all prisoners of war and follow up all displaced and refugees’ cases. 

 

The completion of all preparations required to hold the first convention of the SRF as soon as possible. The meeting delegated the political committee to resolve all administrative issues and the completion of documents, required for approval by the convention, in a date specified by the meeting. 

 

The meeting reviewed of the proposals of the political vision and program committee and recommended that the committee come up with a comprehensive unified proposal that will be presented to the SRF conference for approval.

 

The political committee affirms the importance of contacts and communications with all political forces opposed to the regime in Khartoum and specially these forces that welcomed the formation of the SRF and asked for its membership.

 

The meeting devised a detailed plan of action for the SRF external relations which will start with international and regional tours, starting in the second week of January 2012, to mobilize support for the struggle of the Sudanese people and to explain the position of the SRF on various issues.

 

 

Finally, the SRF assures the Sudanese people at home and abroad that the Salvation Regime sun has set and the only and correct way for our people is to overthrow that regime regardless to those who participated in the (so called) broad base government of general Elbashir.

 

The dawn of freedom and deliverance is an inevitable.

 

The High Political Committee of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) 

 

December 23, 2011

 

Thanks
Anwar Elhaj
SPLMN Representative to the USA

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Report: Israel’s Air Force Bombed Vehicles inside Sudan

By Roi Kais

Sudanese paper claims Israel’s Air Force bombed vehicles which may have smuggled weapons twice this month. Sudanese officials deny report. Foreign media linked Israel to two similar previous attacks

Vehicle reportedly attacked in April (Photo: Sudanese TV)

Sudanese newspaper al-Intibaha reported last week that the Israeli Air Force attacked vehicles in South Sudan, Ynet learned on Sunday. The report speculated on whether the targeted vehicles had been serving arms smugglers.

The newspaper claimed that the first of two attacks was carried out on December 15. The IAF allegedly bombed two land cruiser vehicles killing four passengers. The second attack was reportedly carried out on December 18. A car had been bombed and all its passengers killed. It was also reported that an Israeli apache helicopter landed in an area where South Sudanese army radar stations are located.

The report could not be verified and was denied by official Sudanese elements. South Sudan’s army spokesman said he could not confirm the report.

The past two years have seen two similar reports on alleged Israeli strikes against terrorists and arms smuggling convoys in Sudan. In January 2009, foreign media reported that IAF jets attacked an arms smuggling convoy transporting weapons to Hamas. According to the report, 119 were killed in the attack.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4166568,00.html

Press Statement from JEM: Martyrdom of President of JEM and Supreme Commander of its Armed Forces, Dr. Khalil Ibrahim

On Thursday, 23/12/2011, 3am, the President of JEM and Commander of JEM forces was killed by missiles discharged by unidentified planes.The accuracy of the missiles far exceeded familiar capabilities of the Khartoum government and was indicative of involvement of other parties.The action resulted in immediate death of Dr. Ibrahim and one of his bodyguards.

While declaring the martyrdom of it President, JEM takes this opportunity to offer its condolences to all Sudanese people and in particular, those who have been yearning for justice, whether in cities, towns, IDP or Refugee camps.Dr. Ibrahim will remain a symbol of resistance and inspiration for those who are struggling of a Sudan of
Justice, dignity and equality.

While mourning the heroic sacrifice and tragic loss of Dr. Ibrahim, JEM announces the following in no uncertain terms:

1 — That the blood of its leader will not go in vain and that those responsible for his death and indeed for death of many others will not go unpunished.

2 — JEM will continue its commitment to values laid down by its leader and will proceed with its struggle to build a Sudan of ethnic, cultural and religious diversity and a nation committed to democracy, respect of human rights and rule of law.

3 — JEM affirms its commitment to all agreements, protocols and conventions that it has signed with national and international partners.

4 — It equally affirms its commitment to the Sudanese revolutionary forces and in particular the Sudanese Revolutionary Front of Kauda.

5 — JEM pledges to coordinate and work with all political forces, civic organisations and youth and women bodies to topple the Khartoum Government.

6.In the shortest possible time, JEM will announce its administrative and political arrangements and will embark on military and political initiatives to the full satisfaction of all Sudanese people.

Gabriel Adam Bilal

Media and Spokesperson for JEM

London 25 December 2011

**

Relatives of Darfurian JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim Confirm his Death | Radio Dabanga

(Update 14:17) The leader of the Justice and Equality Movement, Khalil Ibrahim (56), has been killed in the area of Wad Benda, North Kordofan on Saturday. The family confirmed his death to Radio Dabanga.

Baroud Sandal, spokesman on behalf of the family, said the relatives are gathered today in the house of Ibrahim’s wife in Idd Hussein, Omdurman to mourn his death. He said he received a call from the field confirming that Khalil Ibrahim died yesterday on Saturday afternoon after sustaining fatal injuries. But he said the family did not receive any details.

Khalil Ibrahim was a Zaghawa (Kobe) living at the border area of East Chad and West Sudan in Darfur. He is considered an ally of the Islamist leader in Sudan, Hassan al Turabi.

Khalil Ibrahim was a physician who obtained a Master’s degree in public health at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands. He held several positions in the government in Darfur and in Khartoum. During the war with South Sudan he was appointed as a governor for the National Islamic Front in South Sudan, but was never sworn in. After Al Turabi was sidelined by President Omar al Bashir, he became involved in several rebel movements.

Attempts to form a united rebel army against the Khartoum government failed. The Zaghawa dominated JEM was never on speaking terms with the main stream SLM led by Abdel Wahid al Nur, who is a Fur leader currently in exile in Uganda. They also had different political opinions on a future state. Khalil Ibrahim never abandoned the Islamist movement, while Abdel Wahid explicitly wanted to establish a secular state. Khalil Ibrahim attacked Omdurman in the Spring of 2008. In the aftermath, thousands of Darfurians have been arrested on the streets of Khartoum, several never returned home and were alledgedly killed due to torture. After Khalil Ibrahim’s arrest in 2010 in Libya, he only could resume his attacks after the fall of Gaddafi in September 2011.

The exact location where Ibrahim Khalil was killed on Saturday is still unknown, as the battles took place at several locations including Um Gozen, Armel, Goz Ubyad and Wad Benjda areas of North Kordofan. The Sudanese army spokesman Alsoarma Khaled Saad said that the JEM was killing citizens. The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) were using heavy bombing. The JEM signed an agreement with the SPLM-North and rebel groups to form a Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF), but so far have only agreed on a joint political committee to topple the Khartoum government.

http://www.radiodabanga.org/node/22726

Unto Us A Nation Is Born: Merry Christmas and A Happy Prosperous New Year, 2012!

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord [Luke 2^nd]…   For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace [Isaiah 9^th]—King James Version Bible. 

By PaanLuel Wel, Washington DC, USA

Dear country men and women, it is Christmas Time again. The year 2011—historic as it has been—was action-packed that we don’t even seem to remember the last Christmas Time we had on the eve of South Sudan independence. For most of South Sudanese, the last Christmas Day of 2010 was one of belated expectations, unyielding hope and spirited-prayers. On the other hand, it was characterized too by plenty of political uncertainties and psychological anxieties since, then, much of our political future and long-desired destiny was sheathed in a thick fog of uncertainty.
Thankfully, as we marked the 2011th birthday of Jesus of Nazareth, we are relatively out of the thick wood given the immortal dangers we had squarely faced on our protracted trudging to freedom. We paid the full price in blood and flesh, time and resources, and now dare to reap the sweet, hard-earned fruits of South Sudan’s independence. As we celebrate our first ever Christmas in the land of the free, we are once again solemnly reminded of the essential message, lessons and promises of this ancient festival. Whether one is an atheist or religious, a Christian or a non-Christian, Christmas has invariably been about the message of hope over despair, a lesson of deliverance from bondage and a promise of a much brighter future and a commitment to a higher noble cause—one that is much greater than the self.
Before the eventual deification of Jesus of Nazareth, the idea of a coming Messiah and of virgin birth among the Jews was a message of hope over desperations and sufferings from their Roman Conquerors and Rulers. A tiny marauding goat-herding and camel-keeping community, the Israelites were at the mercy of their better organized, military superb and bigger neighbors. Before the birth of Christ, they had been systemically conquered and lorded over by the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Assyrians and, when Jesus was born in the year 6 B.C, the Romans.

Understandably, under such culturally and politically suffocating circumstances that predate the birth of Jesus Christ, the promised of a coming Messiah, one divined to free them from foreign occupations and lead them into an everlasting freedom, was not a small matter. It was all that there was as far as their political future and religious identity was concerned. Unto them a child was born that December, one to wipe off their incessant tears, once and for all.

Similarly, the birth of the Republic of South Sudan is a great milestone in the history of South Sudanese people. Just like the pre-Messiah Israelites, South Sudanese have had their fair share of foreign occupations and colonization. It all started with the advent of Islam in the Sudan after the death of Prophet Muhammad in 632 A.D when the former three African Christian kingdoms of Nubia, Alwa and Makuria—all of which had been flourishing between the 6th to the 16th century—were finally vanquished and taken over by the invading Muslim Jihadists. Slave raiding and forced conversion ensued, resulting in untold suffering to and destruction of the indigenous African cultures, lives, properties and land, and most importantly, the loss of political freedom and self-identity.
As if that was not enough tragedy, one that closely mirror the changing-hand captivity of Israelites before Christ; the Turks, the Egyptians, and finally the British, all wreaked havoc and left wounded souls and a plundered country in the land of South Sudanese. No sooner had the British left than the self-proclaimed Arabs of the Sudan took over the colonial mantle, burgeoning into a bitter long-drawn-out civil wars that embroiled the Sudan till 2005 when the CPA was finally negotiated and signed between the SPLM/A and the NCP. By the time South Sudan finally broke away from (north) Sudan in July 2011, these new islamofascists rulers had broken all the previous known records of political oppression, cultural and religious suppression, and economic impoverishment.

Just as in the Christmas narratives, the true meaning of South Sudan’s birth is that rare, once-in-a-while, message of redemption from servitude, renewal of self-identity and self-consciousness after decades of concerted political, cultural and economic subjugation. And above all, it is particularly about the consummate confident and boundless optimism not only to face the unforeseen uncertainties and fears but also to construct the envisaged future for ourselves and the future generations.

But as we very well know from the Holy Scriptures and from our own yearly enactment of the birth and infancy of the baby Messiah, it was never a smooth ride of all joys and cordial welcoming from the shepherds, the magi and from the choir of angels from above. First, there was King Herod the Great, falsely scared of losing his kingdom, who wanted the new born baby dead. Secondly, there were many people, from high places and mighty positions, who couldn’t stomach the idea of the Promised Messiah being born into an unknown poor family and in the manger among the donkeys in a cold dark December midnight.

Thirdly, there were the Roman Rulers and their subjugated, entrenched political and economic sycophants who could not fathom losing all the privileges their collaborations afforded them. Finally, there were the utterly corrupted and arrogance High Priests and teachers of the law—the Pharisee—whose Jesus’s birth and professed heavenly message was nothing less than a heresy and unforgivable blasphemy. All these people, among others, were not there to usher in the little born boy. On the contrary, they were all up in arms and in full-fledged gears, ready to obstruct and preclude the mission of Jesus of Nazareth.

Likewise, in our case, the fact that a brand-new nation is born unto us should never be taken for granted. Though our new born baby of the Republic of South Sudan had a very warm welcoming ululations from our womenfolk, moving tears of joys from our menfolk, and cheering songs and feisty dances from our youth and children; still, the new born nation needs urgent protection from the King Herods, the High Priests, the Pharisee, the Mighty Placed, and the Romans of the Republic South Sudan. Moreover, it has to be recalled that some people saw, in baby Jesus, a bandwagon for political stardom or an opportunity to amass wealth. By the same token, some people in South Sudan may see, in the new born nation, a cow to be milked dry or a dominion to be lorded over for life or just a playing-field to play dirty tribal politicking.

Indeed, the imminent mortal endangerments antagonizing the new born nation, as it was in the case of baby Jesus, are not just in the realm of creative imaginations. As if he was parroting King Herod the Great who had conspiratorially requested the three Wise Men to inform him about the whereabouts of the new born king so that he could go and worship Him too, President Omar Al-Bashir of the Sudan, just on the eve of South Sudan referendum, sensationally told the world that he would be the first to recognize and respect South Sudan’s independence.

Yet, barely a month later into South Sudan’s secession, his government started undermining the new country by refusing to a speedy settlements of post-independence disputes and by sponsoring and arming perennial militia leaders of South Sudan origins. And if President Omar Al-Bashir is South Sudan’s King Herod the Great and the Republic of Sudan the Ruling Romans, then our marauding rebels, the entrenched corrupted and largely ineffective political system in Juba, the various dysfunctional and self-serving, briefcase opposition parties, plus the tribally conscious and highly biased, politically misinformed society, do constitute the rest of the danger that was facing the infant Messiah and now the new born baby of Sudan.

Gloomy as the outlook was to the little born baby Christ, however, not only did He successfully and spectacularly survive the odds amassed against Him, He actually overcame them and thrived to preach and found Christianity that still prosper to this day, 2011 years after his birth. The young Jesus survived a rough ride to Egypt, fleeing the wrath of King Herod the Great. The matured Jesus survived the temptation of the Devil in the wilderness. And according to his followers, not only did he survive death but also vanquished and defeated death forever.  As Jesus once orated, the very stone that was once rejected by the builders, has now officially become the cornerstone in the kingdom of God and the chosen leader of the selected few

In spite of the daunting political and economic challenges ailing the besieged infant Republic of South Sudan, both from within and from without, the promising message and true meaning of this special Christmas is that of infinite hope and interminable optimism in the face of the unrelenting predicaments; renewal and re-evaluations of the past; and recalibrations of the vision and mission for the desired and envisioned brighter tomorrow.

The new born nation, like Baby Christ, may get harassed, persecuted, betrayed, falsely charged, tried, unjustly sentenced and successfully crucified. It may not even matter that the ordinary people of South Sudan, who had already sacrificed everything and anything for the independence of the country, and unto whom the new baby is born, just as it were to the first century Israelites to whom the Messiah was born, may get uprooted and exiled from—and unscrupulously denied—their rightly-earned share of the national cake.

The falsely accused and wrongly crucified Jesus, nevertheless, rose from the dead and the Jews that were forcefully expelled and exiled from their homeland for over two millennia have now returned to the Promised Land. With that assurance of final victory and last laugh tucked deep down its heart, the new born baby will trudge on and on till it takes its rightful place among the Great Nations of the world.

Merry belated Christmas and a Happy Prosperous New Year 2012 to you all!!!

Unto Us A Nation Is Born.pdf 144K   View   Download

You can reach PaanLuel Wël at paanluel2011@gmail.com, PaanLuel Wel (Facebook Page), PaanLuelWel2011 (Twitter) OR at his blog: https://paanluelwel2011.wordpress.com/

Sudan Army kills Darfur rebel leader Khalil Ibrahim of Justice and Equality Movement (JEM)

By Abdelmoneim Abu Edris Ali (AFP) –

KHARTOUM — Sudan’s army killed a key rebel leader from the Darfur region on Sunday, state media reported, three days after anti-government forces said they had begun advancing on the capital.

“The Sudanese army announce that they killed Khalil Ibrahim in fighting today in west Wadbanda, North Kordofan,” said the official SUNA news agency.

Ibrahim headed the Justice and Equality Movement, the most heavily armed group in the Darfur region.

The report of his death could not be independently confirmed. Calls by AFP to spokesmen for both the army and JEM went unanswered.

But a source close to JEM said: “I’m pretty sure it’s true.”

The governor of North Kordofan, on government-run Sudan TV, said rebel vehicles were seen burning after the clash in west Wadbanda, in the border region between his state and South Darfur.

On Saturday SUNA, quoting army spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saad, said the military was combing the North Kordofan-North Darfur border area after JEM “attacked civilians” and targeted local leaders while looting their property in the Umm-Gozain, Goz Abyadh and Aramal areas.

Saad gave no casualty figures.

The JEM announced on Thursday through its London-based spokesman that its forces were advancing from Darfur eastward towards Khartoum.

JEM spokesman Gibril Adam Bilal said then that the group had reached En Nahud, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) east of Darfur in North Kordofan, on a mission to topple the regime led by President Omar al-Bashir.

On Sudan TV, Saad said Sunday that government forces “clashed directly” with Ibrahim’s troops, killing him and “a group of his leaders” as Ibrahim was on his way to South Sudan.

The South became independent in July following an overwhelming vote to separate after a two-decade civil war.

Sudanese troops have been battling rebels on the poorly defined southern border, with each country accusing the other of supporting rebels within their territories.

In 2008, more than 200 people were killed when JEM guerrillas drove about 1,000 kilometres across the desert to Omdurman, just across the River Nile from the presidential palace on the Khartoum side.

Government troops repulsed them after heavy clashes and later sentenced dozens of rebels to death for their role in the assault.

In July, the government signed the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur with the Liberation and Justice Movement, an alliance of rebel splinter factions.

Darfur’s main armed groups — JEM and factions of the Sudan Liberation Army headed by Minni Minnawi and Abdelwahid Nur — did not sign the deal.

Instead, last month they, along with the SPLM-North rebel group, ratified documents forming the new Sudanese Revolutionary Front dedicated to “popular uprising and armed rebellion” against the National Congress Party regime in Khartoum.

Ibrahim was a key player in the early days of the conflict, which broke out in 2003 between non-Arab rebels and the Arab-dominated Khartoum regime.

But recently the group’s interests had turned away from Darfur.

The source close to JEM said the implications of his death remain unclear, “except to say it’s a very significant turn of events for the Darfur rebellion and will definitely lead to a re-ordering within that particular movement.”

According to the United Nations, at least 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur since fighting broke out more than eight years ago.

The government puts the death toll at 10,000.

UN officials say 1.9 million people are internally displaced and still living in camps in Darfur, with about 80,000 newly displaced by fighting this year.

Six people including President Bashir are being sought or are before the International Criminal Court in The Hague for crimes in Darfur.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved. More »

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g2CCe4X6zecjA8IWFXgxmvTRDDWw?docId=CNG.702eb085765c4838f9e53cfca91c9974.621

Khalil Ibrahim’s troops reportedly lost some of his men fighting for Col Gaddafi

Sudan army ‘kills’ key Darfur rebel Khalil Ibrahim

The Sudanese army has killed the leader of Darfur’s main rebel group, the military says.

It says Khalil Ibrahim was killed in fighting in the Wad Banda area in North Kordofan.

The claim has not been independently verified.

Khalil Ibrahim is known as the leader of the Justice and Equality Movement in conflict-torn Darfur. Earlier this year, he returned from exile in Libya after the fall of Col Gaddafi’s regime.

Sudanese army spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Sad told the BBC Arabic Service that Mr Ibrahim was killed at dawn.

The spokesman also told Sudan’s state TV that Mr Khalil Ibrahim and other rebel leaders had been trying to enter South Sudan, which seceded from Sudan in July.

Khartoum had accused Jem of fighting for Col Gaddafi in his attempt to hold on to power.

Col Gaddafi’s fall in Tripoli was a blow to the rebels as he gave them sanctuary and financial and military aid, analysts say.

The rebels signed a ceasefire with the Sudanese government in February 2010 but abandoned peace talks soon after, accusing Khartoum’s forces of launching new raids in Darfur.

About 300,000 people have died in the conflict in Darfur since it began in 2003, the United Nations says.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16328441

Sudanese army kills leader of Darfur rebel group

By MOHAMED OSMAN, Associated Press

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — The Sudanese army said it killed Khalil Ibrahim, the leader of the main Darfur rebel group, during fighting early Sunday west of the capital Khartoum, touting the death as a key victory over the rebels who had rejected a peace deal with the government.

The army said Ibrahim and several of his associates died during a military offensive in the North Kordofan state that was in retaliation for a rebel attack there Saturday, which authorities said had killed an undisclosed number of civilians.

Ibrahim led the Darfur-based Justice and Equality Movement, or JEM, which proved to be the most organized and effective military power in the region torn by conflict since 2003. The group did not join last year’s peace deal signed with the Khartoum government.

If confirmed, Ibrahim’s death could be a serious blow to JEM, which has been increasingly threatening to bring down the regime in Khartoum by advancing toward the capital on several occasions.

An army statement, carried by the official SUNA news agency, said Ibrahim died in Wad Banda, an area in North Kordofan about 440 miles (700 kilometers) west of Khartoum. JEM, could not immediately be reached for comment or confirmation of the Sudanese army claim.

Fighting in the area had flared up in the past days. On Saturday, the Sudanese army said the rebels from Darfur attacked three locations in neighboring North Kordofan, killing an unspecified number of civilians in an area where government forces were not present.

JEM has not claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack but in a dramatic push in 2008, hundreds of JEM fighters drove through the remote western region to attack Khartoum’s outskirts. And most recently, the group also extended its presence from Darfur into North Kordofan.

The military said it responded Sunday to the rebel attacks in North Kordofan, killing Ibrahim with a group of associates as they where retreating, allegedly toward South Sudan.

South Sudan — which had fought a bitter war with Khartoum for at least two decades — declared independence from Khartoum in July, becoming the world’s youngest country.

Ibrahim was believed to have recently been living in exile in Libya, where he enjoyed the support of Moammar Gadhafi until the death of the Libyan dictator at the hands of the country’s revolutionaries in October. After that, he reportedly returned to Sudan.

“The army cut all paths for the group as it was retreating and trying to cross into South Sudan to reorganize it forces,” said Sudanese army spokesman Col. Sawarmy Khaled. “Our gallant armed forces were able to kill rebel Khalil Ibrahim along with some of his associates.”

“The armed forces laid a long chase and were able to impose an effective and complete siege against the remnants of Khalil Ibrahim’s forces,” added the spokesman, commending the residents of Wad Banda who “gave the ultimate example of patriotism” in the face of “bad treatment they received from the rebel forces. ”

If unclear what wider ramifications Ibrahim’s death would have in Darfur — Sudan’s vast, mostly desert western region — or on the array of other Darfur rebel groups.

Darfur has been in turmoil since 2003, when ethnic African rebels accusing the Arab-dominated Sudanese government of discrimination took up arms against it. The Khartoum government is accused of retaliating by unleashing Arab militias on civilians — a charge the government denies. The U.N. estimates 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have been displaced in the conflict.

Ibrahim was once a minister in Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s government before joining the rebellion in the early days. Another prominent Darfur rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Movement, also was not part of last year’s peace deal with al-Bashir.

The agreement, signed in Qatar and backed by the African Union, meant to provide a basis for a cease-fire, power sharing, equal distribution of wealth and compensation for displaced people.

Ismail el-Haj Musa, Sudanese deputy speaker of the council of states, told the pan-Arab Al-Jazeera TV on Sunday that Ibrahim had returned to Sudan sometime after Gadhafi’s death and was en route south.

“He completely refused to come to the negotiating table, he never joined the peace talks,” Musa said. “He committed acts against the state.”

Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Sudanese Army Kills Leader Of Darfur Rebel Group
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The military responded on Sunday, killing Ibrahim with a group of associates as the rebels where retreating toward South Sudan, which in July seceded from Sudan and became the world’s youngest country. Ibrahim was believed to have been until recently …

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