Showing posts with label URF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label URF. Show all posts

Friday, February 28, 2020

Sudan allows former foe Israel to fly over its territory - Gaddafi said Israel, not Bashir, behind Darfur war

Sudan allows former foe Israel to fly over its territory
Report by BBC World Service
Dated 17 February 2020
BBC Image credit and caption: Nur Photo
The first Israeli plane crossed Sudan on Saturday on its way to South America (file photo)

Israel says it has begun flying commercial aircraft through Sudanese airspace under an agreement with the Khartoum government.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, told a group of visiting US Jewish leaders that the first Israeli plane crossed Sudan on Saturday, bound for South America.

He said the new air corridor would cut the flying time on the route by three hours.

Sudan said in early Ferbruary that it had given initial approval for Israeli planes to fly over its territory.

Mr Netanyahu said Israel was discussing rapid normalisation of ties with its former foe.

Sudan, which has close ties with the Palestinians, has stopped short of referring to improving ties with Israel.

- - -

Copy of Reuters report from the archives of Sudan Watch 2009:
Gaddafi says Israel, not Bashir, behind Darfur war
Report from Reuters
Written by Lamine Ghanmi; Editing by Kevin Liffey 
Dated 24 February 2009 / 6:43 PM / 11 YEARS AGO

TRIPOLI, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, the current African Union president, on Tuesday accused "foreign forces" including Israel of being behind the Darfur conflict.

Judges from the International Criminal Court are due to announce on March 4 whether they will issue a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir over allegations that he masterminded genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region. U.N. diplomats have told Reuters the warrant will be issued.

But Gaddafi, addressing a meeting on ways to expand cooperation between the United Nations and African Union, urged the Court to stop its proceedings against Bashir:

"Why do we have to hold President Bashir or the Sudanese government responsible when the Darfur problem was caused by outside parties, and Tel Aviv (Israel), for example, is behind the Darfur crisis?"

Gaddafi suggested, without presenting any evidence, that the Israeli military was among those stoking the conflict:

"It is not a secret. We have found evidence proving clearly that foreign forces are behind the Darfur problem and are fanning its fire," Gaddafi said, according to the Libyan state news agency Jana.

"We discovered that some of the main leaders of the Darfur rebels have opened offices in Tel Aviv and hold meetings with the military there to add fuel to the conflict fire."

Mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms against Sudan’s government in 2003, accusing it of neglecting the Darfur region. Khartoum mobilised mostly Arab militias to crush the rebellion.

International experts say the fighting has killed 200,000 people and uprooted 2.7 million. Sudan’s government denies any genocide, saying that 10,000 have been killed and that Western media exaggerate the conflict.

Gaddafi himself has made a number of attempts to broker peace talks between Darfur rebels and the Sudanese government. 

View Original: https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLO50752
- - -

FURTHER READING
From the archives of Sudan Watch:

August 17, 2019
Ex-Israel spy admits lobbying US on behalf of Sudan military council
- - -

May 27, 2009
Suspected Israeli airstrike on a convoy in Sudan January 2009 killed 119 people
- - -

April 13, 2009
Envoy to Tehran stresses Mossad's role in Sudan's insecurity
- - -

April 05, 2009
Africa Confidential heard that another arms convoy was moving north near Red Sea coast and Egyptian forces were moving to Sudan border to block it
- - -

March 26, 2009
Unidentified aircraft destroyed suspected arms convoy in E. Sudan last January (Update 4)
- - -

February 28, 2009
AU Chairman: Hard Evidence Proves Israel behind Darfur Conflict
- - -

February 18, 2009
SLM's Abdel Wahid al-Nur visits Israel - 
Sudanese rebel leader meets with Israeli spies
- - -

February 03, 2009
Israeli owner of MV Faina pays $3.2m ransom - Its cargo destined for Darfur? JEM has received heavy military logistical support from Israel?
- - -

October 31, 2008
Ukraine says military hardware carried by hijacked Ukrainian ship MV Faina had been officially sold to Kenya (Update 1)


Monday, July 29, 2019

Darfur, Sudan: ICC 2005 investigation into Haskanita

Note from Sudan Watch Editor: For the record, here is a copy of a page from Wikipedia last edited on 16 July 2019 at 00:49 (UTC) plus a photo from BBC News. Yellow highlighting is mine.
Photo: Twelve Africa peacekeepers died in the attack on the AU camp in Haskanita, South Darfur, western Sudan on 29 September 2007. Credit: BBC News report Sudan: Darfur rebel leaders surrender to Hague court https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10329167 
Raids on Haskanita
The raids on Haskanita was an attack on African Union peacekeepers by rebel groups during the Darfur conflict. The attacks took place on 30 September and early October 2007 near the town of Haskanita in South Darfur. Three rebel commanders were arrested for the attacks on warrants issued by the International Criminal Court.

Background
The Darfur conflict started in 2003 when two rebels groups took up arms against the Sudanese government. The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) claimed that the government discriminated against black Africans in favor of Arabs. Local Arab Janjaweed militias intervened on the side of the government. Following an initial ceasefire in 2004, African Union peacekeepers were deployed as the African Union Mission in Sudan. (AMIS)[1] AMIS established a base in Haskanita, in Um Kadada District, North Darfur province and 100 km northeast of Ed Daein.[2]

In November 2006 the area around Haskanita was taken over from the SLA by the National Redemption Front - a splinter group from the JEM. Aid agencies suspended their operations in the neighbouring districts of Ed Daein and Adila.[3]

First raid
On 30 September 2007 approximately 1,000 rebels attacked an AMIS base, killing 10 peacekeepers, including seven from Nigeria and one each from Mali, Senegal and Botswana,[4] and wounded many more. A further 50 personnel were initially unaccounted for, but later found. The attack occurred just after sunset, and came amid increasing tensions and violence between the separatist rebels and AMIS peacekeepers, who the rebels accused of bias towards the central government. Survivors said the rebels used heavy weaponry to attack the AMIS base, including rocket-propelled grenades and armored vehicles.[5] Sudan's army and Darfur rebel movements initially blamed each other for the attack.[6]

Second raid
The town of Haskanita was attacked again in early October, and most of it was set on fire. Following the attack, the town's mosque and school were some of the few buildings remaining intact.[7] The ruins still act as a base for African Union forces, headquartering a full 800-strong battalion. Although it has yet to be confirmed, unnamed sources in Khartoum claimed the fires were set by AU forces and Janjaweed militia in retaliation for the attacks in late September.[8]

International Criminal Court investigation
The Darfur conflict had been referred by the UN Security Council in 2005 to the International Criminal Court and the Chief Prosecutor had opened an investigation into crimes related to the conflict.[9]

In July 2008, the Chief Prosecutor said he knew who were the perpetrators of the Haskanita raids, and he was committed to prosecuting them.[10] In November 2008, he requested arrest warrants for three rebel commanders from the Justice and Equality Movement for these attacks.[11] One of these — Bahr Idriss Abu Garda — voluntarily surrendered to the court in May 2009.[12] However, charges were dropped in February 2010 when judges ruled the prosecutor could not prove he had planned the attack.[13] The other two commanders - Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain and Saleh Mohammed Jerbo Jamus - surrendered to the court in June 2010 and were charged with three counts of war crimes:
Banda led a splinter group from the Justice and Equality Movement and Jerbo led the Sudanese Liberation Army - Unity faction.[13] Abu Garda led the United Resistance Front, another splinter group from the JEM.[14]

External links
References
  1. ^ See the articles on Darfur conflict and AMIS.
  2. ^ See this map Archived 2011-10-30 at the Wayback Machine for the location of Haskanita]
  3. ^ USAID situation report Archived 2009-08-05 at the Wayback Machine, USAID, 1 December 2006
  4. ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19940585/
  5. ^ Rebel attack came at end of Ramadan fast USAToday, October 1, 2007.
  6. ^ News: Sudan, Sudan gov't, militia forces raze Darfur town-rebels
  7. ^ BBC NEWS | Africa | Army-controlled Darfur town razed
  8. ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21098619/
  9. Security Council Refers Situation in Darfur, Sudan, To Prosecutor of International Criminal Court, United Nations, 2005-03-31, accessed on 2007-01-11
  10. ^ Court vows to try Darfur rebels, Al Jazeera, 2008-07-18
  11. ^ Prosecutor to present third Sudan case within weeks Archived 2008-10-20 at the Wayback Machine, Reuters, 2008-10-18
  12. ^ First Darfur rebel to appear before Hague court, Reuters, 2009-05-17
  13. ^ Jump up to:
    a b c Sudan: Darfur rebel leaders surrender to Hague court, BBC, 16 June 2010
  14. ^ See Bahr Idriss Abu Garda article for more information and sources.
Map of Darfur within Sudan, July 2011, courtesy of Wikipedia.
- - -

Further Reading

WAR CRIME ALERT: UN peacekeeper slain in Abyei, Sudan/South Sudan. When will the ICC investigate?

Statement attributable to the Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General on the situation in Abyei
UN Press Release
Published: July 17, 2019

Attack on peacekeepers a war crime: Ban Ki-moon
Article from The Hindu
By Special Correspondent New Delhi
Published: April 10, 2013 01:45 IST
Updated: June 10, 2016 07:39 IST

Killing of peacekeepers a war crime: Ban ki-Moon
Article from The Hindu 
Published: April 10, 2013

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Doha: Sudan's government and a collection of Darfur rebel groups have signed a three-month cease-fire deal

Sudanese vice-president Ali Osman Taha

Sudanese vice-president Ali Osman Taha (L), Qatar's crown prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Khalifa Al Thani (C) and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim al-Thani attend a truce ceremony in Doha Thursday, March 18, 2010.

Sudan signed a three-month ceasefire deal with a second Darfur rebel group on Thursday, a diplomatic source close to the negotiations said, part of a government push to end the conflict in the western Sudanese region before elections. (Reuters/Mohammed Dabbous)

Ghazi Salah Eddin

Ghazi Salah Eddin (L), adviser to Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, shakes hands with Al-Tijani Al-Sissi of the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) after signing a truce in Doha March 18, 2010. (Reuters/Mohammed Dabbous)

Rebel leader Al-Tijani Al-Sissi

Sudan's government representative Ghazi Salah Eddin Atabani, left, and rebel leader Al-Tijani Al-Sissi hold the documents after signing a truce in Doha Thursday March 18, 2010. Sudan's government and a collection of Darfur rebel groups have signed a cease-fire, opening the way for political negotiations ahead of a full peace agreement. (AP Photo/Osama Faisal)

Youssef Ezzat, secretary of the Movement of the United Revolutionary Force

Al-Tijani Al-Sissi of the Liberation and Justice Movement (L), Youssef Ezzat, secretary of the Movement of the United Revolutionary Force (C), and Mahjoub Hussein, secretary-general of the Sudan Liberation Movement Revolutionary Forces, talk at the truce ceremony in Doha. March 18, 2010. (Reuters/Mohammed Dabbous)

Mahjoub Hussein, secretary-general of the Sudan Liberation Movement Revolutionary Forces,

Mahjoub Hussein, secretary-general of the Sudan Liberation Movement Revolutionary Forces, attends a truce ceremony in Doha March 18, 2010. (Reuters/Mohammed Dabbous)
- - -

JEM, five rebel factions agree to coordinate toward unity

From Sudan Tribune, Thursday 18 March 2010 - extract:
JEM, five rebel factions agree to coordinate toward unity
March 17, 2010 (KHARTOUM) - Twenty four hour before the signing of a second framework agreement between the government and another rebel group in Doha, the Justice and Equality Movement with other five groups agreed to coordinate their positions and work for unity.

Besides JEM, the unity agreement is signed by the Sudan Liberation Movement Unity Command (SLM-Unity), SLM Juba-Unity, the United Revolutionary Forces Front, the Democratic Justice and Equality Movement and breakaway commanders from SLM- Abdel Wahid Al-Nur. These groups were part of Addis Ababa Roadmap group sponsored by the US envoy Gration.

The signatories reiterated the need to reunite the resistance in order to get the rights of Darfur people and extended the invitation to all the forces keen to reach that goal, stressing no just peace deal can be reached without unity.
Related report
UN News Centre, Thursday, 18 March 2010:
As another Darfur ceasefire deal is signed, UN envoy voices hope

Thursday, October 22, 2009

ICC Haskanita: Eyewitness account of Sudanese rebel URF Commander Bahar Idriss Abu Garda in the dock at The Hague

Before reading the below copied eyewitness account of Sudanese rebel URF Commander Bahar Idriss Abu Garda in the dock at The Hague, please note that the targeting of peacekeepers is a war crime under article 82C1 of the Rome Statute. Excerpt from Sudan Watch's archive:
According to the ICC prosecution, militant groups frequently make the calculation that an attack against peacekeepers will prompt their withdrawal from the country – enabling them to target the civilian population, no longer under the watchful eye of the international community.

“We really hope to show very clearly to the perpetrators, ‘well, that’s not a calculation you can have any longer’,” the advisor to the prosecution said.

When you attack peacekeepers, you attack indirectly the whole population. Those AU peacekeepers were there to protect the 2.5 million displaced in Darfur. Attacking the AU peacekeepers put in danger all of the civilians that were under their care.”
- - -

Eyewitness account of Sudanese rebel URF Commander Bahar Idriss Abu Garda in the dock at The Hague

From Alex de Waal's blog Making Sense of Darfur 
By Jan Coebergh, Thursday, October 22, 2009:
Abu Garda in The Hague: A Day At The Court
One could be forgiven for not knowing a Sudanese is in the dock at the International Criminal Court for crimes committed in Darfur. The confirmation of charges hearing against Abu Garda is going on at the moment in the Hague and on Tuesday 21 October, there were about 20 people in the public gallery to watch it in the industrial estate suburb of the Hague where the ICC is based.

We were shown photos of the destruction of the AU base in Haskanita, with Abu Garda sitting there listening intently, and told how looted AU cars were seen in his possession the day after the attack. The session moves slowly with repetitions of long document numbers (did you mean …. 553 or 533?), whether they are public documents or not and working out whether translations have worked between the English, French and Arabic.

The court has not finished a trial yet, so many procedural issues are still being worked out. Yesterday the Victims’ representative was allowed to meet a prosecution witness, when speaking in English in the presence of a court official, but not about the testimony, since the court does not allow witness proofing (in contrast to the ICTY; and painfully clear when a prosecution witness in the Lubanga case said some surprising things and changed his testimony).

There was also a delayed application for a dual role of a prosecution witness to be recognised by the judges as a victim. Although already discussed in the Lubanga case it seems remarkable to me that a prosecution witness needs to give an independent truthful account of events, which could easily conflict with his (perhaps also financial) interest as a victim.

However this is the new and untested field of victim participation at the ICC. No one has been able to answer my question what they would do if say 1 million Darfuris applied to be registered as victims in a case against Bashir. Judges need to approve everyone of them as a victim. I don’t think the court could manage. That would be my strategy as the Sudan Worker’s Union to slow the court down.

However the people of Darfur probably did not expect Abu Garda to be here when the UNSC referred the case to the ICC and when it was announced Kushayb, Haroun and Bashir face arrest. Abu Garda is here of course for a crime not against Darfuris but against AU peacekeepers, a force with which Darfuris had an ambivalent relationship. The victims’ representative of a wounded AU force member said here that he could not have sex with his wife anymore. I am not sure how victims of the attacks on villages with large-scale loss of life and lifestock feel about the severity of this impediment to be recognised at the ICC.

My instinct was that the AU, who send them there, should provide help with the wounded and the families as victims, not the ICC.

Although I am not saying the crimes of an attack against peacekeepers is not important, the events here at the ICC do seem far away from Darfur and the crimes most of its people suffered. However the presence of a Sudanese at the ICC does warrant more attention, not only for the legal detail but also for the people in Darfur.
Click on Haskanita label here below to view related reports.
- - -

UPDATE on Friday 23 October 2009

From Radio Dabanga 23 October 2009:
‘African Union hosted air force captain at Haskanita base in North-Darfur’
THE HAGUE (23 Oct 2009) – A high ranked officer of the Sudanese Air force was moved from the Haskanita base of the African Union peacekeepers the same day the rebels attacked their compound.  They moved the air force captain, called Bashir, after protestors demanded the African Union to protect their civilians against the continues aerial bombing by the Sudan armed Forces in September 2007.  The mob accused the AU to take sides with the government of Sudan by hosting such a high ranked air force officer at their compound.
The African Union became scared after the threats and moved the officer quickly by helicopter to Al Daein in South Darfur. This was explained by an African Union-high military officer who appeared yesterday (Thursday).  He came as a witness for the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. 
The attack took the lives of 12 African peacekeepers. The prosecutor accuses Bahr Abu Garda for being primary responsible for the killings considered to be a war crime.  
The Nigerian AU-witness was the second in a row requested by the prosecutor to testify for the court.  He also disclosed that he had a meeting with two leaders of Darfur rebel- factions.   He said he met Abdelaziz Al Assir, at that time part of the Justice and Equality Movement and Mohamed Osman of the Sudan Liberation Movement-Unity in August 2007. The witness explained that he was working as a protection-officer of the African Union. In that meeting, Abdelaziz and Mohamed Osman told him that they were working together and controlling the area.
Update on Friday 23 Oct 2009: Radio Dabanga amended some typos in the original copy of above report and republished it, using a different URL. I have amended the above copy accordingly.

Friday, April 24, 2009

UFR threatens war to overthow Chad's government - UN mission in Chad needs boosting

RFC/UFR's Chadian leader Timan Erdimi sits in Darfur, W. Sudan plotting war against his Uncle, Chadian President Idriss Deby.

Chadian rebels are using El Geneina in Darfur as their back-base, as they await an opportune moment to launch another strike on Ndjamena, about 1,000 kilometres away.

"Almost 95%" of Chadian rebels are in Sudan, says General Balla Keita who heads the joint UN-African peacekeeping force Unamid in West Darfur.

Chadian rebel chief of Rally of Forces for Change (RFC), Timan Erdim, was elected in January to head the Union of Forces of the Resistance (UFR) - an alliance of Chad's main eight rebel groups who merged into one movement with a single political and military command. Timan Erdimi is a nephew of Chadian President Idriss Deby and his former chief of staff until 1996.

"When everything is ready we will launch the war," Erdimi says, near El Geneina in Darfur, W. Sudan.

Erdimi's plans, once he topples Deby's regime, "is not democracy," he says. His priority is to develop government institutions.

Erdimi insists that his men have no links to the Sudanese army and do not need Khartoum's blessings to attack Ndjamena.

"We are not back-up troops for the Sudanese army," he says.

On Tuesday Chadian rebels claimed they had killed about 15 soldiers in a battle near Birak in east Chad over the weekend, but a government official denied there had been any such clash.

The UN mission in Chad and the Central African Republic needs urgent reinforcement because it lacks staff and equipment as it seeks to protect civilians, a senior UN official said today (Friday, 24 April 2009).

Source: see the following reports.

Timan Erdimi

Photo: Timan Erdimi leader de l’UFR: lire son interview accordĂ©e en arabe (Source: www.tribunecoum.com fĂ©vrier 19, 2009 and Slide Show)

AFP report April 24, 2009 via news24.com (SA):
Rebels ready to overthrow Deby
Sudan - Chadian rebel chief Timan Erdimi sits in the shade of a mango tree near a dried-up wadi in western Sudan, charting out a strategy to topple the government in neighbouring Chad.

"When everything is ready we will launch the war," Erdimi says, near El Geneina, a wild and lawless territory in Darfur close to the border with Chad populated by UN peacekeepers, Sudanese army troops and local militias.

Sitting cross-legged, coiffed in a turban and sporting a salt-and-pepper goatee, Erdimi would look like a Chinese wise man were it not for the military fatigues he dons and the armed fighters who surround him.

He was elected in January to head the Union of Forces of the Resistance (UFR) - an alliance of Chad's main eight rebel groups who merged into one movement with a single political and military command.

The alliance came into being months after rebel groups launched an offensive on the Chadian capital Ndjamena in February 2008 that almost toppled the regime of President Idriss Deby.

But the rebellion was repulsed as it neared the gates of the presidential palace with the help of France, as cracks appeared in the ranks of the rebels.

"There never has been a spirit of unity like today," says Erdimi, a nephew of Deby and his former chief of staff until 1996.

Reached an agreement

"Things are ready on the political and military fronts," he adds, dismissing rumours that divisions are already threatening the very existence of his movement.

Around 100 fighters, machine guns slung across their shoulders, surround Erdimi, who is in his mid-50s. Some are slouched in four-wheel-drive vehicles which bristle with weapons, including rockets.

The Chadian rebels are using El Geneina in the strife-riddled border region of Darfur as their back-base, as they await an opportune moment to launch another strike on Ndjamena, about 1 000 kilometres away.

"Almost 95%" of Chadian rebels are in Sudan, says General Balla Keita who heads the joint UN-African peacekeeping force Unamid in West Darfur.

Erdimi acknowledges that political divisions among the rebellion last year forced his fighters to leave Ndjamena although they had "won the war" but he stresses that the tide has now turned and the time for attack is nearing.

The fighters, he says, were "very unhappy to have left Ndjamena last year. They had won the war but the politicians (within the rebellion) were divided.

"Now the politicians have reached an agreement and they are in a hurry," to launch an offensive, he said.

But the rainy season that spreads from mid-May to the end of September means military operations could be slowed as the dried-up wadis turn into rivers.

Develop government institutions

Western observers believe that the Chadian army has mobilised on the other side of the border and is ready to confront the rebels.

"The Chadian army has been reinforced over the past year," one said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

But Erdimi is confident in the strength of his men.

The rebellion "has more (fighters) than Deby and they are much more motivated that Deby's men," he says.

Erdimi's plans, once he topples Deby's regime, "is not democracy," he says. His priority is to develop government institutions.

On Tuesday Chadian rebels claimed they had killed about 15 soldiers in a battle near Birak in east Chad over the weekend, but a government official denied there had been any such clash.

UFR spokesperson Abderaman Koulamallah said in Ndjamena that they had killed about 15 government soldiers in the clashes and destroyed two vehicles with rocket-propelled grenades.

Troubled neighbours Chad and Sudan restored full diplomatic relations in November after a six month hiatus caused by mutual accusations of supporting armed rebels groups operating in and around Sudan's border region of Darfur.

But Erdimi insists that his men have no links to the Sudanese army and do not need Khartoum's blessings to attack Ndjamena.

"We are not back-up troops for the Sudanese army," he says.
- - -

BBC News report 06 February, 2008:
France watches Chad-Sudan border
French military aircraft have been patrolling the Chad-Sudan border to ensure there has been no interference in the fighting around N'Djamena.

France's defence minister said it wanted to monitor "any self-styled foreign intervention" in the fighting between Chad's government and rebels.

The government has accused Sudan of giving the rebel groups rear bases in Darfur, a charge which Khartoum denies.

Thousands have fled N'Djamena since the rebels launched an assault on Saturday.

Up to 20,000 people have crossed the river border with Cameroon in the past four days and arrived in the town of Kousseri, placing heavy strain on essential supplies and accommodation, the UN refugee agency has said.

More than 3,000 other refugees have fled to Nigeria.

Earlier, the leader of the main UFDD rebel group said it was prepared to have a ceasefire in return for the promise of negotiations with the government, but the government dismissed the offer, saying it had already beaten the rebels.

A mediation mission from Libya and Congo-Brazzaville, appointed by the African Union with a brief to meet both sides, is due to arrive soon in the Chadian capital.

Reconnaissance

Speaking about the role of his country's 1,400 troops based in Chad, French Defence Minister Herve Morin stressed that the UN declaration on Monday calling on all countries to support the government had not changed the terms of engagement.

"What it does do is give international community support to the actions of France," he told Radio France Internationale. "It is also support for [President] Idriss Deby."

French diplomatic tight-rope

"It is international community support for the integrity of Chad and support for the actions of France, actions that we've been carrying out for several days."

Mr Morin said that France did have a military agreement with Chad which provides for logistical, medical and training support, but "in no way is it a defence agreement... that would oblige France to intervene to protect the sovereignty of the country involved".

The French military could intervene if it was authorised to do so by a UN resolution, he added.

However, Mr Morin admitted that French fighter jets and reconnaissance planes had been flying over the border with Sudan over the past 36 hours in line with a request from President Nicolas Sarkozy to ensure there are no foreign incursions.

"It enables us to monitor and verify any self-styled foreign interventions and to date we've seen nothing," he said.

"What is certain is that these rebel forces were over by the Sudanese border," he added. "What we might well find out in the days ahead is just what the involvement of the Sudanese actually is."

The violence in the western Sudanese region of Darfur and the cross-border fighting between Chad and Sudan has in recent years sent at least 400,000 people fleeing to refugee camps in eastern Chad.

A French-dominated European Union peacekeeping force had been due to start deploying to eastern Chad last week to give the refugees and aid workers there a measure of protection, but the latest rebel offensive began at the same time.

BBC world affairs correspondent Mark Doyle says one theory is that Sudan encouraged the rebels to attack in order to stop the EU opening a window on Khartoum's activities in Darfur, where it has been accused of genocide.

Ceasefire 'offer'

Mr Morin's comments came as the leader of the largest rebel group, the United Force for Democracy and Development, told the BBC that it was prepared to agree to a ceasefire in return for the promise of talks with the government.

Mahamat Nouri said the ceasefire offer had been made by the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, and the government of Burkina Faso.

But the Chadian Prime Minister, Nouradine Delwa Kassire Coumakoye, was dismissive of the offer.

"Why a ceasefire?" he told French TV station France 24.

"They don't exist any more. With whom would we sign a ceasefire?... We've got them under control."

The lull in the fighting around N'Djamena following the tripartite rebel alliance's recent withdrawal has prompted tens of thousands of Chadians to flee the country.

THE REBEL COALITION
Unified Military Command includes:
Union of Forces for Democracy (UFDD) led by Mahamat Nouri
Rally of Forces for Change (RFC) led by Timane Erdimi
UFDD-Fundamental led by Abdelwahid Aboud Mackaye


On Tuesday, "frightened people were still crossing in a continuous flow" from Chad into neighbouring Cameroon, said the UN's refugee agency in a news release.

Thousands have deluged Kousseri in Cameroon, the UNHCR said. While some have found refuge with relatives, in schools or hotels, it said, between 6,000 and 7,000 were staying out in the open at a transit centre near the bridge.

The UNHCR said it planned to move these people to an old campsite some 30km away which could hold up to 100,000 people and was equipped with wells.
- - -

BBC News report 02 December 2007:
RFC rebels 'in new Chad clash'
UFR's Chadian leader Timan Erdimi

Photo: The Rally of Forces for Change (RFC) is led by Timan Erdimi (AFP/BBC)

Government troops in Chad have clashed with rebels from the Rally of Forces for Change (RFC), reports say.

The RFC said its positions had been bombed by Chadian helicopters on Saturday, raising fears that a major ground battle could soon take place.

The RFC signed a peace deal with the government in October, as had another rebel group, the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD).

The UFDD has already clashed with government troops further south.

Speaking to foreign diplomats on Saturday, Chadian Foreign Minister Ahmat Allami said RFC rebel forces led by Timan Erdimi had clashed with government forces around Kalait, some 210km (130 miles) north of Abeche.

A spokesman for the RFC, Id Moura Maide, told the AFP news agency that the fighting had begun when Chadian military helicopters attacked one of the group's bases in the area.

President Idriss Deby, who the rebels are trying to overthrow, is on the ground in eastern Chad commanding his troops.

The clashes follow days of fierce fighting east of Abeche between Chad's army and the UFDD, during which the government said several hundred rebels had died.

The UFDD said it had broken the ceasefire because the government failed to honour the peace agreement brokered by Libya in March.

Under the deal, the government and four Chadian rebel groups agreed to an immediate ceasefire, an amnesty for civil and military personnel and the release of all prisoners. The rebels were also granted the right to form political parties and to join the military and security forces.

But the BBC's Stephanie Hancock in Ndjamena says that after some of the heaviest fighting seen in the country in several years, the ceasefire is now effectively dead in the water.

On Friday, the UFDD also said it had declared war against the French-led 3,500-strong European Union peacekeeping force which is due to be deployed in Chad in January to protect refugees from Sudan's Darfur region.

The rebels accused French military planes of flying over their positions and passing intelligence to the government during last week's fighting. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has insisted the declaration would not jeopardise the EU mission.

The latest fighting began as President Deby sacked his defence minister, Mahamat Nour.

A former leader of the United Front for Change (Fuc) rebel coalition, Mr Nour was appointed defence minister in March after agreeing to disarm his fighters and arrange for them to be assimilated into the Chadian army.

However, correspondents say this never really happened and last week the authorities said they suspected the fighters had instead taken up arms against the government again.

Officials say Mr Nour has taken refuge in the Libyan embassy in the Chad's capital, Ndjamena.
- - -

AFP report 24 April 2009:
UN mission in Chad needs boosting
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The UN mission in Chad and the Central African Republic needs urgent reinforcement because it lacks staff and equipment as it seeks to protect civilians, a senior UN official said Friday.

The mission, known as MINURCAT, took over from a European force in mid-March amid regional tensions marked by deteriorating ties between neighboring Sudan and the international community.

So far some 2,425 soldiers have arrived out of a total force of 5,200, assistant head for UN peacekeeping operations Edmond Mulet told the UN Security Council.

"There is now an urgent need to strengthen MINURCAT up to its authorized strength and to equip it so that it is in a position to meet the challenges facing it," said Mulet.

"We will only reach the ceiling of 5,200 troops if member states provide the mission with military helicopters and their logistic support."

Mulet said that moves to reinforce the mission were being hampered by a delay in the arrivals of contingents promised by Ghana and Nepal.

And he voiced concerns that by the start of the rainy season in June probably only about 3,000 troops would be in place, and some 4,700 by the end of the year.

Total strength would probably only be reached if member states supplied helicopters to support the deployments, Mulet added.

"I cannot sufficiently stress the risk posed by the lack of military helicopters as far as the operational effectiveness of the force is concerned," he said.

MINURCAT's main mission is to protect and aid some 450,000 refugees from the conflict in Darfur, western Sudan, who have flowed over the border into Chad and the Central African Republic.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Joint chief mediator Djibril Bassolé meets Bahar Idriss Abu Garda, leader of JEM & SLM splinter group URF, in El Fasher N. Darfur, W. Sudan

Thursday 20 November 2008 report from Sudan Tribune - Joint mediator meets rebel URF in the capital of North Darfur:
November 19, 2008 (ELFASHER) — Joint Chief Mediator for peace in Darfur met today in the capital of North Darfur, El Fasher, with the leadership of the rebel United Resistance Front (URF), the UNAMID reported today.

Bahar Idriss Abu Garda

Photo: Bahar Idriss Abu Garda, leader of JEM & SLM splinter group URF (ST)

As part of his efforts to reenergize the peace process, Djibril BassolĂ©, held a meeting with the leadership of the URF. The UNAMID briefing didn’t provide further details about the members of this rebel delegation but the group is led by Bahar Idriss Abu Garda.

Abu Garda, who was formerly a prominent member of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), created last April the URF with other small factions of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) which splinted from his front last July.

According to the statement, the rebel URF "expressed readiness to comply with the ceasefire agreements, provided that it is not a one-sided declaration and that an appropriate framework is put in place."

The former rebel chief turned Senior Presidential Assistant, Minni Minawi last week told the official SUNA that he had contacts with rebel groups and he said they could join Abuja peace agreement.