Sudan accuses Israel of aiding southern rebels
Government spokesman says Israel supported deadly attack in war-torn South Kordofan province
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleElhanan Miller is the former Arab affairs reporter for The Times of Israel
Sudan’s government spokesman accused Israel of aiding southern rebel groups on Monday, claiming that an attack in the war-torn province of South Kordofan was “forcefully aided by Israel.”
Government spokesman Ahmad Bilal told conservative pro-government daily Al-Intibaha that an assault on the city of Um Ruwaba Sunday by a rebel group, the Sudan Revolutionary Front, was “a premeditated action to disrupt peace and destroy the city’s success.”
“Israel supported the rebels in carrying out the attack,” Bilal told the daily, adding that the group maintained close ties with Israel.
Armed conflict between the Sudanese army and the insurgent group Sudan Peoples Liberation Army-North erupted in the state of South Kordofan in June 2011, revolving primarily around the oil rich area of Abyei.
“Knowledgeable Sudanese sources” told London-based Palestinian news agency Quds Press on Monday that the Sudanese government had proof of Israel’s involvement in supporting the insurgency in western Sudan.
“Senior officials in Israel’s intelligence apparatus have stated their support for the [western rebel] movement in the past. It has received aid from elements in South Sudan, which Israel’s deputy defense minister visited last week,” read the report.
No comment on the report was available from Israel’s Defense Ministry at the time of publication, though a spokesman for Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon told The Times of Israel that he had not visited the region since August 2011. It was not clear what kind of aid Sudan claimed the rebels received from Israel.
Earlier in April, Sudanese press reported that the northern army had attacked a supply convoy for the southern branch of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, destroying “advanced Israeli weaponry” along with Russian made tanks and American rocket launchers, according to a report in Egypt’s Al Ahram.
Sudan has accused Israel of hostile attacks on its territory several times over the past two years. Last October, Sudan claimed that Israel was behind a mysterious aerial strike on an arms factory that left two people dead in the capital Khartoum.
South Sudan, which maintains full diplomatic ties with Israel, seceded from the north in July 2011 following a popular referendum. A similar referendum was supposed to take place in the state of South Kordofan that year, but was suspended by the northern government.
Amnesty International published a report on April 17 accusing the Sudanese army of indiscriminately bombing civilians in South Kordofan.
On April 23, the Sudanese government began peace talks with the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-North, which is the main rebel force in the southern Sudanese states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile. The talks took place in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.
The Times of Israel Community.