Sudan cut diplomatic relations with Chad after an attack on the
capital Khartoum by Darfur rebels which it said was supported by
Chadian President Idriss Deby.
Rebels from Darfur's Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) fought
Sudanese troops in a suburb of Khartoum on Saturday, in what one
senior rebel commander called a bid for power.
"God willing we will take down Omar al-Bashir himself," Suleiman
Sandal said early on Sunday. But since then there has been no word
from the rebels.
Officials said the last rebel forces had fled on Sunday evening
after bringing their battle to the capital for the first time in
decades of conflict. Around 65 people were believed to have been
killed in the clashes.
"These forces are all basically Chadian forces supported and
prepared by Chad," President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said on state
television. "We are now cutting our diplomatic relations with this
regime."
Bashir said the fighters, who made a lightning advance across 600
km of desert and scrub to attack the western Omdurman suburb, were
led by JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim, who is from the same tribe as
Deby.
Chad has denied involvement, but analysts say it may have backed
the JEM rebels to retaliate for an attack on the Chadian capital
three months ago.
"It seems that at least in part this is payback for the NCP's
(Sudan's ruling party) support for rebels in Chad who almost
toppled the government there in February," said Amjad Atallah from
the Save Darfur Coalition.
Darfur conflict
A senior government official said 70 JEM cars had entered Omdurman,
just across the Nile from Khartoum, on Saturday.
A security source said the army had engaged rebels west of
Omdurman, killing 45 including a senior commander.
Khartoum's governor Abdel Haleem al-Mutafi said in total about 20
security forces had died.
"All rebel forces have now left the capital," Mutrif Siddig, the
under-secretary at Sudan's Foreign Ministry, told Reuters on Sunday
evening. A security source said rebels had retreated to some 70 km
outside the city.
Siddig told the state news agency SUNA that Sudan would make a
formal complaint to the UN Security Council about Chad.
SUNA also said 300 suspected rebels had been arrested in the
capital.
Rebels in the south, west and east of Sudan, Africa's biggest
country, have for decades complained of neglect by the
Arab-dominated central government.
A peace deal between north and south ended one civil war in 2005
and boosted Sudan's economy by increasing oil production in the
south, but that agreement did not cover the conflict that erupted
in the western region of Darfur five years ago.
International experts estimate some 200,000 people have died and
2.5 million been made homeless in Darfur since mostly non-Arab
rebels took up arms.
Bashir Adam Rahman, political secretary of the opposition Popular
Congress Party, said Saturday's fighting showed the government that
"the war is coming to their backyard" and they must seize the
chance for meaningful peace talks.
But government officials said the attack on Omdurman ruled the JEM
out of any peace process.
Aftermath of battle
A curfew remained in force on the outskirts of Omdurman, as troops
hunted down rebels.
Military checkpoints remained at every major junction.
Heavy tanks lined Omdurman's streets and dozens of vehicles
carrying armed men raced along. Security forces were arresting
mostly young men who looked to be from Darfur.
Burnt out vehicles and broken glass littered some of Omdurman's
main streets and remains of dead bodies could be seen. One mortar
shell hit the minaret of a mosque. But the streets were again full
of people.
State television showed a picture of JEM leader Ibrahim, branding
him a war criminal. It called on citizens to pass on any
information about his whereabouts and announced a $125,000
($NZ163,219) reward for information leading to his capture.
Siddig told Reuters that the Chadian embassy in Khartoum had been
searched by security forces overnight.
"The contacts that have been monitored revealed that one of the
points of contact for the rebel leadership was from within the
Chadian embassy here in Khartoum," he said, later adding the
security attache had been arrested.
Chad said it was surprised at Sudan's hasty decision to break off
diplomatic relations and said it hoped ties would be
re-established.
Deby and Bashir signed a non-aggression pact in March, pledging not
to let their territory be used by rebels hostile to each other.
Each has accused the other of breaking the deal.
