Khalil Ibrahim of JEM Killed By Khartoum While Trying To Leave Darfur for South Sudan

Darfur rebel group confirms leader killed
from Al-Darb Diya by Defender Owl
Dec 26, 2011

Johannesburg - The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), the main rebel group in Darfur, has confirmed that its leader was killed by the Sudanese military and vowed revenge, according to a statement carried by local media on Monday.

While the Sudanese army had said the rebel leader Khalil Ibrahim was killed in battle as he was trying to sneak into South Sudan last week, JEM countered that he was killed in an airstrike and charged that foreign powers were involved in the attack.

'This indicates a collusion and conspiracy by some quarters in the regional and international milieu with the regime of genocide in Khartoum,' JEM was quoted as saying by the Sudan Tribune daily.

'By this plot, Khartoum opened the door for political murders,' according to a spokesman for the group, which pulled out of a peace deal with the government last year.

Ibrahim reportedly returned from Libya this year, after the downfall of the Moamer Gaddafi's regime, from whom JEM allegedly received support. Newly independent South Sudan is also accused by Khartoum of aiding the rebels.

According to reports and video footage circulating online, police in Khartoum dispersed supporters of JEM who tried to pay condolences at the house of Ibrahim's family on the outskirts of the Sudanese capital.

It was unclear who would replace the rebel leader at the helm of the group, which he helped found in 2000.

In the conflict in Darfur, ongoing since 2003, some 300,000 people have died according to the UN, though Khartoum says the figure is lower.

The Rest @ Al-Darb

Gagdafi Accused of Supporting Sudan Rebels

March 28, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The chairman of Transitional Darfur Regional Authority (TDRA) slammed the beleaguered Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and accused him of being the top supporter of the rebel groups who took arms since 2003 against the central government.

• West Darfur governor Al-Shertai Ga’far Abdel-Hakam who is also the TDRA head told a forum organized by the National Union of Sudanese youth that Gaddafi provided money and weaponry to rebels in the region as well as the East and the South.


• He provided no details to back his claims. However, he is the first high ranking Sudanese official to go on the record with these allegations that his peers made privately for years.

• A failed by attempt by the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in May 2008 to take over the capital was blamed on Libyan and French backing.




• Sudanese media quoted government sources at the time as saying that the financing of the operation was made through the Libyan Sahel-Saharan bank.

Libya is currently hosting JEM leader Ibrahim Khalil after being refused entry by the Chadian authorities last year where he was based. Sudan has sought without success to have Libya expel him. However, it was Gaddafi that pushed the African Union (AU) to grant Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir immunity from arrest in the continent despite an arrest warrant against him issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his alleged role in Darfur war crimes. Gaddafi is fighting an armed rebellion that initially started as a popular uprising in mid-February. The Libyan opposition managed to control most of the Eastern side of the country. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) this month authorized a No-Fly Zone over Libya and using all necessary means to protect civilians. Diplomats at the UN told Reuters last week that Sudan has quietly granted permission for coalition aircraft to use its airspace for enforcement of the No-Fly Zone. BASHIR HEADS TO DOHA The Sudanese president is heading on Tuesday to Qatar for talks with the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani. The Arab Gulf state is hosting peace talks between Khartoum and Darfur rebels for several years but so far little progress was made. Diplomats tell Sudan tribune that Qatari officials are frustrated with what they see as Khartoum’s willingness to offer meaningful concessions for a final peace accord. Specifically the rebels have asked for unifying the three Darfur states as one and giving a Darfuri the post of Vice president something which was categorically rejected by the Sudanese government. A proposal by Khartoum to hold a referendum before May on Darfur’s administrative status, and how it should be governed came under fire from rebels who said it will make negotiations pointless. The Rest @ Sudan Tribune