Politically suicide attack by Darfur rebels in Sudan(1)

2008-05-12 10:45:51 [ Big Normal Small ]    　Comment

Residents survey burnt out cars on the streets of the Sudanese capital Khartoum May 11, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

KHARTOUM, May 11 (Xinhua) -- By infiltrating into the Sudanese capital Khartoum and launching attacks, a major rebel movement in the western Sudanese region of Darfur could get nothing but grievous losses and unanimous condemnation by the international society, local analysts affirmed on Sunday.

They described the assault carried out by the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) at Omdurman in northwestern Khartoum as "apolitically suicide attack" and "a military unvalued adventure."

The Sudanese government termed on Sunday night the Saturday's attack by the JEM rebels as a "terrorist operation for sabotage," announcing that this operation had "finished."

"This terrorist operation for sabotage was plotted by Chad and carried out by JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim," Kamal Obeid, the minister of state in the Sudanese Ministry of Information and Communications, told reporters.

The JEM is believed to have the most powerful forces among rebel groups in the western Sudanese region of Darfur, which amount to over two dozens.

The Sudanese government announced on Saturday evening that the army and the police had crushed the attempt of the JEM rebels to infiltrate into the capital and carry out sabotage activities there, killing and capturing a number of the infiltrators.

It was the first time for rebels in Darfur to enter Khartoum and launch attacks there since bloody conflicts erupted in the western Sudanese region neighboring Chad in February, 2003.

Sadig al-Madi al-Mahdi, a presidential adviser and the chairman of the Umma Party-Collective leadership, told Xinhua that this attack was "a desperate attempt aimed at snapping the public opinion."

"But this was a politically suicide attack by the JEM which will lose the support of the Darfur people," the Sudanese well-known political analyst said.

Al-Fatih Az-ddin, the mayor of Omdurman, said that what had been done by the JEM was "a military adventure which could not succeed," adding that the rebel forces infiltrating into Omdurman had been totally defeated.

Kamal Obeid admitted the existence of the "fifth fleet" of the rebels in Khartoum without giving the details.

Most analysts agreed that the JEM would not have been so audacious and reckless without assistance of collaborators inside the Khartoum regime.

On Saturday evening, as the rebel forces were being repulsed by the army troops and police, the JEM claimed that they would continue the fighting until President al-Bashir was ousted.

"We are in Omdurman, we are in Khartoum north. This is not something that is going to be finished in a few hours," JEM official al-Tahir al-Faki told a Western news agency, adding "there is an imbalance of power and wealth, we have to sort this out."

During its emergency meeting on Sunday evening, the Sudanese cabinet listened to the reports made by the ministers of defense and interior on the rebel attack.

"The Council of Ministers praised the big professional work performed by the armed and security forces as well as the police, which led to the defeat of the rebelling forces," Kamal Obeid noted.

He said that the cabinet instructed the authorities concerned to collect the vehicles and weapons used by the rebels in the attack in order to show them to the public on the scale of the rebel operation.

"The casualties and material losses are still being counted, and the statistics will be announced as soon as being completed," the Sudanese official said.

An anonymous source in the Sudanese Armed Forces told Xinhua that over 60 rebel militants were killed and some 120 others captured during the Saturday fighting at Omdurman, which is the northern gate of the Sudanese capital.

Related:
﹣Chad denies involvement in Sudans Darfur rebel attack on capital Khartoum