Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Sudan admits responsibility for Darfur attack: UN official

Sudan admits responsibility for Darfur attack: UN official
48 minutes ago

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — A Sudanese military commander has taken responsibility for a recent attack on a supply convoy of the new UN-African Union peacekeeping force in west Darfur, a senior UN official told the Security Council Wednesday.

Jean-Marie Guehenno, head of the UN peacekeeping department, told the 15-member council that a Sudanese area commander had confirmed that "a Sudanese armed force unit fired upon a convoy" ferrying supplies for rations for troops of the joint UN-Africa peacekeeping force (UNAMID) in west Darfur.

Earlier Sudan's UN envoy Abdalmahmood Mohamad rejected the charges and instead blamed Chad-backed rebels for Monday's attack.

He specifically blamed rebels of the Sudanese Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) which he claimed was strongly supported by the Chadian government.

"They (rebels) are encouraged to attack UNAMID to confuse all the cards and to put the government under pressure," Mohamad said, stressing Khartoum has nothing to gain from such an attack. Read more >>>>>>>

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