Sudan 'still backing Janjaweed'

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A former rebel leader from Sudan's Darfur region who joined the government has accused it of rearming and mobilising the Arab Janjaweed militia.

Minni Minnawi, who is now a special adviser to President Omar al-Bashir, told the BBC he was calling on Khartoum to stop supporting the Janjaweed.

The Janjaweed have been responsible for many of the worst atrocities in Darfur.

At least 200,000 people are estimated to have died and 2m driven from their homes during the three-year conflict.

Sudan's army has continued to fight two rebel factions in Darfur that refused to sign the peace agreement earlier this year.

Sudan denies supporting the Janjaweed militia, which the United Nations accuses of attacking and killing civilians.

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But Mr Minnawi said it was clear what the situation really is.

"They know, everybody knows that the government is re-arming the Janjaweed, that the Janjaweed are activated even more than before somehow," he said.

"I'm calling on the government to call them back and disarm them, otherwise the situation is not good."

The BBC's Jonah Fisher in Khartoum says that six months ago Mr Minnawi was the only Darfur rebel leader to sign a peace agreement with the government.

He was feted at home and abroad, he met US President George Bush in Washington, was given an office in the Republican Palace and hundreds of pictures of him were put up on Khartoum's lamp posts.

But the war in Darfur has not stopped and every new report of the Janjaweed militia attacking civilians has further eroded Mr Minnawi's credibility.

Khartoum is still deliberating over what role the UN will play in Darfur.

A new joint force with the African Union has been accepted in principle, but there is been no agreement on how big the mission will be or who will be in command.

Attack

A Darfur rebel group, the National Redemption Front, has carried out an attack on an oilfield in Kordofan, which neighbours Darfur.

Rebel spokesman Adam Shogar told the BBC that militiamen attacked the Abu Jabra oilfield in response to government attacks on civilians in Darfur.

There are no details of casualties or damage.

Our reporter says the government confirmed the attack, but said the rebels had been repulsed.