JEM denies clashes with govt forces

Sudanese forces say fighting took place in Darfur

The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) denied on Wednesday any clashes with government troops in Darfur’s border areas with Chad and Libya.The statement came as a response to Sudanese armed forces’ claim that fighting had broken out between the two opposing groups on Monday.

Al Soarma Khalid Saad, spokesperson of the Sudanese army, had released a statement on Tuesday about the fresh fighting. “Small groups of the JEM clashed with our troops along the Libyan and Chadian borders and inflicted heavy casualties. They siezed a large tank which was laden with fuel,” Al Soarma Khalid Saad was quoted as saying.

The JEM, on the other hand, claimed that the statements were baseless and meant to raise the morale of the troops on the ground. It also denied allegations of seizing the tank.

JEM’s spokesperson Jibril Adam Bilal told Radio Dabanga that the group hadn’t entered into any battle with the army and all the troops on the border had returned to safety.

JEM’s head Khalid Ibrahim returned to Sudan earlier this month after spending nearly eight months in Libya where he claims to have been a political prisoner. Certain reports however suggest that former Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi had been providing Sudan’s rebel leader a safe haven.

JEM denies execution of cadres

The JEM also strongly denied allegations by the Sudanese Security Service’s Media Centre that it  had carried out executions of some of its cadres in the field according to orders issued by its head Khalil Ibrahim.

“These are attempts to tarnish his (Khalil Ibrahim’s) reputation,” Jibril Adam Bilal told Radio Dabanga and dismissed it as a hoax set up by the government to overshadow his return to Darfur.