JEM: No military presence in Libya

Rejects Al Jazeera report, which suggested that the armed movement was fighting alongside Gaddafi forces

The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) strongly denied on Tuesday having any troops in Libya that were fighting alongside the Gaddafi regime.The denial came as a response to a news item on Al Jazeera, an Arabic news network, which reported that the JEM troops were fighting for Gaddafi.

A statement issued by the JEM stressed that it had no military presence in Libya whatsoever – not even alongside any of the rebel factions. It also rejected the information provided by Al Jazeera as unfounded and baseless.

JEM spokesperson Jibril Adam Bilal said on the movement’s official website that he had spoken to the Libyan rebels and explained the situation. “They have understood the situation and said that they won’t be believing any unconfirmed reports from anywhere without hearing both sides of the story.”

Sudan denies Ibrahim’s extradition

Al-Obeid Marawah, the spokesperson of the foreign ministry, denied on Tuesday that Sudan had asked the Libyan transitional council to extradite Khalil Ibrahim, leader of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

Marawah said that, that foreign minister, Ali Karti and the director of the Intelligence and Security Service, General. Mohamed Atta, had conveyed President Omar Al-Bashir’s congratulations to the Libyan people for their victory during their recent visit. They had invited the council’s chairman, Mustafa Abdul Galil to visit Sudan.

However, Jibril Adam Bilal, spokesperson of the JEM told Radio Dabanga, that Karti and Mohamed Atta had requested the Libyan transitional council to hand over the Darfuris, who had opposed the regime in Libya, to Khartoum.

“However, when the rebels refused to extradite any Sudanese in Libya to Khartoum, they had to return empty handed,” Jibril Adam told Radio Dabanga.