DARFUR ... DARFUR.

Darfur former rebel leader killed near Sudan-Chad border area

May 12, 2013 (KHARTOUM) - A former Darfur rebel faction announced on Sunday the death of its leader Mohamed Bashar and his deputy Suleiman Arko saying they were killed during an attack carried out by the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) inside the Chadian territory near the Sudanese border.

Mohamed Bashar (ST)

Bashar, who is a leader of a splinter JEM faction, was regaining Darfur from the Chadian capital before to head to Khartoum to start the implementation of a peace deal he signed with the government in Doha on 6 April.

Bashar’s adviser, Nahar Osman, told Sudan Tribune from inside the Chadian territory near the place of the incident that over 30 rebel vehicles attacked Bashar convoy in Pamina, 4 kilometers from the common border between the two countries.

He added that Bashar and his delegation were not escorted by any military force, only a Chadian security officer was accompanying him to the Sudanese border.

Reached to comment on these accusations, JEM spokesperson Gibreel Adam Bilal confirmed the "clashes with Bashar group" adding that their fighters repelled an attack by the splinter group.

Bilal said that Bashar forces attacked a base of their group not far from the border with Chad but another force stationing near the place of the attack surrounded the assailants and dealt with them.

Further, JEM military spokesperson Badawi Musa Al-Sakin released a short statement saying that Bashar group supported by Chadian four wheeled vehicles and weapons attacked them inside an area they control in the remote North Darfur.

Sakin added they "disarmed" the assailants from their weapons and ammunitions but did not mention the death of the dissident leader.

Nahar said ten people were killed in the attack: "We lost Bashar, Suleiman Arko and other five members. also were killed a Chadian security officer and two cattle keepers who were near the place of the attack. "

Arko was the deputy chairman and led the negotiating team during the peace talks with the Sudanese government.

The National Security and Intelligence Services (NISS) confirmed in a statement released in Khartoum on Sunday the killing of the former rebel leader and his deputy and accused JEM of seeking to topple the ongoing efforts to end the 10-year conflict.

The statement said the rebels who carried out the "terrorist crime" were led by three rebel commanders : Issa Al-Kuleib, Mahdi Hassab Allah, and Ibrahim Mahmoud.

The Chadian government did not yet comment on the incident.

Last April, JEM killed the deputy general commander of the breakaway faction Saleh Moahmed Jarbo following two-day clashes in the remote areas of Furawiyya in North Darfur.

Nahar reiterated that their group is committed to the peace process in spite of the attacks they suffered from their former comrades.

(ST)