Darfur leader says Janjaweed attacking key town

0 Comments | AFP, December, 2006

KHARTOUM (AFP) — Pro-government Sudanese militias are attacking the key Darfur town of El-Fasher, a former rebel leader allied with Khartoum said, threatening to quit the government if the assault was not halted. "Even as I am talking to you, we are facing a Janjaweed attack on El-Fasher's cattle market," Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) chief Minni Minnawi told a press conference in Khartoum.

"The situation is critical," said Minnawi, who signed a peace agreement in May with President Omar al-Beshir's ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and was subsequently appointed as his adviser. Two other rebel factions rejected the deal however while pro-government forces and their allied Janjaweed militia continued their attacks in Darfur, a vast western region devastated by almost...