KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Former Darfur rebels on Sunday accused Sudan's army of a second attack on their forces since President Omar Hassan al-Bashir called for a new initiative for peace.
Minni Arcua Minnawi's Sudan Liberation Movement said onSunday that the army had attacked one of their police posts inNorth Darfur, killing four troops, before conducting searchoperations in nearby villages. Sudan's army denied the report.
"Some 36 vehicles from the army attacked our post andkilled four soldiers before searching and torturing civiliansin seven villages we were protecting," Minnawi's militaryspokesman Mohamed Dirbeen told Reuters.
Minnawi's group, the only Darfur rebel group to sign a May2006 peace deal with Khartoum, said on Friday that as Bashircalled on all forces to join a new peace process during a visitto the region last week, his planes bombed villages and killedthree people.
The latest alleged attack happened more than 100 km (60miles) south of Darfur's historic capital el-Fasher. "This is avery serious military escalation ... and at the same timeBashir is calling for peace," Dirbeen added.
Sudan's army said they regularly conducted "administrativeoperations" along that route but denied any attack on Minnawi'sforces.
"This is not true -- our only work there is accompanyingtrade and civilian convoys," an army spokesman said.
The joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfurknown as UNAMID said it would be mobilising its limited airresources to investigate the report. Heavy rain has made muchof the region, which is the size of France, impassable by road.
"UNAMID is going to set up a joint team to verify thesituation on the ground," said UNAMID spokesman NoureddineMezni.
The world body has failed to acquire a dozen helicoptersurgently needed by the mission, which so far only has one thirdof its target strength of 26,000 troops and police.
Minnawi became a presidential assistant following the May2006 deal but left his Khartoum office for Darfur months agowith no sign he may return soon. He accused Bashir of a lack ofpolitical will to implement the accord.
Bashir addressed all three Darfur state capitals last weekand responded defiantly to the International Criminal Court'schief prosecutor's accusation that he had committed genocide,war crimes and crimes against humanity.
(Reporting by Opheera McDoom; editing by Andrew Roche)
