Sudan charges Eritrea with fanning the flames of Darfur crisis
Addis Ababa, July 31 (AFP) - The
Sudanese government on Saturday accused Eritrea of aggravating the crisis in
its western Darfur region by training rebel fighters and by pressurizing their
leadership not to engaged in a serious peace dialogue with Khartoum.
"The Eritrean government has been and is training
Sudan's young Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and Sudan Liberation
Movement/Army (SLM/A) fighters to boost their military might and to directly
involve themselves in political leadership decision-making," Sudanese
ambassador to Ethiopia and African Union (AU) Osman Elsayed Fad Elsayed charged
in Addis Ababa on Saturday.
"Quite recently, the Eritrean government pressurized
the rebel leadership not to fly to Addis Ababa to attend the July 15 peace
talks, when the United States had already sent an aircraft to pick them
up," Elsayed told a press conference in the Ethiopian capital.
Elsayed said the Sudanese government has presented
documented evidence to the United Nations and African Union of Eritrea's
involvement in the Darfur crisis and has requested the two bodies to take
appropriate measures against Eritrea.
The SLM/A and the main southern Sudan People's Liberation
Movement/Army (SPLM/A) rebels -- members of the opposition National Democratic
Alliance (NDA), held a conference in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, mid-July, as
part of a long-running series of negotiations aimed at ending Africa's longest
civil war.
The JEM has not joined the NDA, but also attended the
conference, where the two Darfur rebel groups urged that the talks between them
and Khartoum be moved to another venue, because of the closeness between the
Ethiopian and Sudanese governments.
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