JEM say Sudan forces advancing towards their positions in east Jebel Mara area

Wed Feb 11, 2009 Reuters report by Andrew Heavens in Khartoum - excerpt:

Darfur rebels says Sudan advance undermines talks

Darfur rebels accused Sudanese government forces on Wednesday of advancing towards their positions and undermining peace talks that began in Qatar a day earlier.

Ahmed Hussein Adam, a spokesman for the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), one of the main Darfur rebel factions, said the group was not pulling out of talks for now.

"We are studying the situation closely. We have contacted the mediators. We will see what takes place in the coming hours," he said by telephone, adding that the Sudanese forces were advancing in the east Jebel Mara area.

There was no immediate comment from the army.

The talks in Qatar are the first since 2007 between the government and JEM, which launched an unprecedented attack on Khartoum last year and has been involved in a recent upsurge of fighting.

Other factions have said the talks in Qatar will fail because they are not all included.[...]