Sudan's Bashir says if the international community insists on UN peacekeepers in Darfur, then Sudan has to choose confrontation

Oct 3 2006 Xinhua report via ST - Sudan's president says no ceasefire with new Darfur rebel group. Excerpt:

"We do not have a ceasefire with the NRF, which was formed after the signing of Darfur Peace Agreement," Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir told a Ramadan breakfast party organized by Sudanese Copt Church Monday evening, according to the report.

He said that the rebel group was set up in order to disrupt the peace agreement by attacking the forces of Minni Menawi, the leader of a former rebel faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement who signed the peace agreement with the government on May 5.

This statement is considered as an official recognition of the last month government attacks on Darfur rebel positions.

Al-Bashir reiterated his government's refusal of the UN Security Council resolution 1706, which calls for the deployment of international peacekeeping forces in Darfur.

"If the international society insists on the UN peacekeepers deployment in Darfur, then the country has to choose confrontation," the Sudanese president said.

Note, Sudan's president has said all along, his word is final.