_________________
A friend once said, and I found to be true
That everyday people, they lie to God too
So what makes you think, that they won't lie to you?!

Last edited by dinoz on Sun May 11, 2008 12:42 am; edited 1 time in total

okey now from now the army (northern amry) itsa7ab withdrew wow okey now i dont know what to think all i can say is my family is in my prayers and all my friends are in my prayers i hope all my shamarat members that are in sudan right now are okey and i hope their families are okey as well!
_________________
A friend once said, and I found to be true
That everyday people, they lie to God too
So what makes you think, that they won't lie to you?!

When i first heard of this earlier today, i was thinking 'maaaan..here it goes!!...' and how are rebels from darfur going to get all the way to khartoum unnoticed?!

It seems there were a few gun battles and even government helicopters were involved, InshaAllah no innocents were caught up in all this. We wil hear about that in the next few days.

Sudan’s Army Beats Back Attack on Capital
NAIROBI, Kenya — Darfurian rebels staged a bold attack on Saturday on Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, advancing to within a few miles of the city’s center, according to the government and the rebels.

By nightfall, it seemed that government forces had beaten them back, but only after declaring a citywide curfew, deploying attack helicopters and hundreds of troops and essentially shutting down the city.

“Let there be no mistake about it, everything is under control,” said Rabie A. Atti, a government spokesman. “The rebels didn’t succeed. We have them surrounded. They are now running away from us.”

The conflict in Darfur, a desiccated region of western Sudan hundreds of miles from Khartoum, has been raging on and off for years. But the attack on Saturday was the first time major fighting from this conflict spilled into the capital’s suburbs, a possible sign of rising instability to come.

Leaders of the Justice and Equality Movement, one of the bigger rebel groups, quickly claimed a victory.

“Our forces are everywhere in the capital,” a London-based rebel spokesman, Ahmed Hussein Adam, told Agence France-Presse by telephone.

However, a Western aid worker who lives in central Khartoum said things were quiet. “There’s nothing obvious I can see,” said the aid worker, who was not authorized to speak publicly. “The streets are empty. Everyone has gone home. It’s just a quiet night.”

Mr. Rabie said the skirmishes were confined to Northern Omdurman, a Khartoum suburb along the marshy banks of the Nile River. Residents said they heard heavy, continuous shelling and saw rebel pick up trucks burning in the streets.

“We never expected this, not here,” said Selma Suleman, one of the residents. “People are scared.”

Mr. Rabie said the trouble started several days ago when security forces intercepted a large column of rebel fighters cutting across the desert from Darfur toward the capital.

“We attacked them and killed many of their fighters,” he said.

He said most of the rebels had been stopped about 125 miles west of the capital. However, he said, a small band of rebel fighters escaped and were able to penetrate Khartoum’s suburbs.

Even so, it could mark a turn in the Darfur conflict, which has killed as many as 300,000 people, according to recent United Nations estimates. So far the fighting has been confined to remote sandy stretches with few witnesses and far from Sudan’s economic core.

The Darfurian rebels have said they are fighting to address a long history of neglect in their region. The government has responded with intense aerial bombing campaigns and by arming militias to fight the rebels.

It is widely believed that the rebels cannot beat the well-armed government forces toe-to-toe, unless the government security forces split and soldiers defect in large numbers.

Rebel leaders said Saturday that some Sudanese military commanders had done exactly that, but the government denied it, and there was no independent confirmation of a division.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/world/africa/11sudan.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin

Hey guys, there were casualties, but none has been announced as yet. They only mentioned that many of the rebels have been killed. Al7amdulillah things have calmed down in the early morning hours. Helicopters and police are patroling Omdurman where everything erupted (as usual). No idea why it's always Omdurman

dinoz do u know wat's pissing me off more than anything :

Quote:

(KHARTOUM) — Sudan’s army has stepped up security in Khartoum, saying it has intelligence that a heavily armed convoy of Darfur rebels has advanced to the neighbouring Kordofan province and is planning an attack.

the army knew, they were in standby and yet the rebels still managed to attack!

is that the quality of safety??!!!


noosa hun am so glad u're ok....i was sick worried abt u but i cldnt call or text...
_________________
Courtesy is the glue that holds the society together.

Quote:

the army knew, they were in standby and yet the rebels still managed to attack!

Fizzy, this was intended. I was shocked in the same way as you, but it was explained to me logically, and it makes sense to me. If the Sudanese Government had destroyed the rebels in Darfur, or worse, in Kordofan, it would have landed itself in deep s*** with everyone for killing Darfurians/Tchadians for no legitimate reason, validating the accusations of "genocide". By waiting until the rebels had reached Khartoum, the government could attack them, in defence of itself and its civilians, by rightly saying that they were actually threatened by them - thus silencing any genocide accusations. The army had it in control from a very early stage - the proof for this is the fact that not one civilian died in the process (save the poor soldiers who did the defending of course) - so in fact, the quality of safety was pretty good given the circumstances.

All in all, I must admit, it was handled well, even intelligently. Al7amdulilah overall tala3at saleema, o shiwaya bayadat wash al7akooma alsudaniya gedam al3alam - wala sheno?
_________________
4JJl lJl 4Jl IJ

Don't worry about it Fiz, we're all okay.

Quote:

not one civilian died in the process

I hope that's true, but that's not what I hear.

But I agree, things are being handled well. They just chased one 7sa in our neighbourhood and caught him 6wali. Tom and Jerry 3adeel kida lol

_________________
Reach Your hands into the Sky and you can play with the Stars.

Quote:

The second reason I believe has to do with diversion tactics and probably a cover-up for something to come or already has occured. The SAF won't, under normal circumstances, allow such an attack to occur given all the might it has,the hardware and even the number of soldiers at its disposal. These guys know about troop movements way before they even start their cars. Some of you might call me a skeptic but it just doesnt make sense at all that such a stunt was pulled off for at least a couple of hours in the capital of Sudan.I'd bet a million bucks on my conviction that this was a CIA-type covert project.

I think everyone already knows that, and whoever doesnt is just being simply foolish and naive.

But here's a thought that I shared with Noosa the other day, taking that all this is really true and Khalil Ibrahim was really intending to take over umdurman, we noticed that all the JEM troops were children and women, and it took the Sudanese Armed forces a Whole day to overcome them, starting from about 2 pm upto 3 or 4 am the next day! and those were only 14-17 year old teenagers and women, not what if Khalil Ibrahim or some one else comes back with a real ARMY.. with real MEN! how long will the battle take? a week? two weeks? how many civilians would have died? hundreds? Thousands?

b3dain, EVERYBODY knows that the Sudanese Army and Intelligence is not that simple or easy! I'm sure khalil ibrahim knows better!
_________________
Days pass by in different rhythms and beats. Some play in a very fast tempo we don’t even get the chance to inhale, breathe and save in memories of those beautiful moments we just had; because they passed, in a blink of an eye.

Which is the reason why we don’t remember that these moments even existed during intricate times; times when the rhythm is too indolent and ambiance is dreary, bitter and silent. Too silent that our own heavy breathing explode in our heads; explode in arguments, explode in fights and explode with all those harsh, heart breaking words

My Sudani housemate lost a cousin and another cousin of his was seriously injured. They were at work when some rebels ran in and were pursued by government troops, they were caught in the crossfire. Innalillahi wa inna ileyhi raji3un.

I think the amount of civilian casualties wont be announced for a few days because it would kill the ecstatic mood of the ministers. I didnt feel comfortable watching the ministers laughing and celebrating yesterday on TV.

Lo2lo2a, i heard about that plan as well. They had to wait for the rebels to get to Ombdurman before they could attack. Unfortunately in that sense it was a good idea.

I met some sudanese yesterday who as usual had their ideas and solutions about the whole thing. I heard something from a few of them which really disturbed me..'they should round up all the zaghawa in khartoum and send them back..' and 'all the zaghawa in khartoum support the JEM, we shouldnt trust them'. That sickened me. I hope people who originate from western sudan and live in Khartoum dont suffer as a result of this event. I can imagine them walking around KRT and people treating them suspiciously thinking maybe they are rebels undercover.

CommonSense, I've been hearing alot of that too, and it scares me cuz I live in Umbadda, and alot of Zaghawa's live here too, it scares me to see that poeple will again go back to square one and act all racist and this time its Zaghwa's who will be mistreated.
Reminds me of the incidents of that Monday following Garang's death, when every one had hatered towards all Southerners, forgetting that many of them are well educated and kind people who had nothing to do with what happened. You would hear children in the streets playing (shorta 7aramy) but instead its (enta alshamali wana aljanoobi)

Its so sad to see people with sick minds drive the country and the people to racism and prejudice.
_________________
Days pass by in different rhythms and beats. Some play in a very fast tempo we don’t even get the chance to inhale, breathe and save in memories of those beautiful moments we just had; because they passed, in a blink of an eye.

Which is the reason why we don’t remember that these moments even existed during intricate times; times when the rhythm is too indolent and ambiance is dreary, bitter and silent. Too silent that our own heavy breathing explode in our heads; explode in arguments, explode in fights and explode with all those harsh, heart breaking words

yuh i saw pictures of them are they were young i actually didnt know there were women involved how bout that?! i had no idea! that is weird and allot of people were saying they came from Chad but then allot of them are sayin no they arent they are were backed up by Chad but they came from the west part of sudan like darfur wa kida.

wallahi i don't know all i know is the 7akoma could not have not seen it coming wa ba3dain i also heard that Al Turbabi was in on it to, and a couple days b4 the attack happened 1,00 soldiers were let go. Wallahi lakin i dont know i just don't think this is the end of it all i really don't last i heard they are giving out this huge reward for any citizen that turns in khalil or whatever his name is in dead or alive

there is just so many pieces missing from this story
_________________
A friend once said, and I found to be true
That everyday people, they lie to God too
So what makes you think, that they won't lie to you?!

Darfur JEM chief safe after leading assault on capital: rebels
12.05.08 - 09:03:10



(LONDON) — The leader of a Darfur Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) is safe after leading a lightning attack on the Sudanese capital, a senior rebel official said today.

Khalil Ibrahim, the leader of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), gestures during a meeting with General Martin Luther Agwai, AMIS Force Commander, 17 October, at an unknown location on the Sudan-Chad border in north west Darfur (AFP) “I can confirm to you in no uncertain terms that Dr. Ibrahim is now with his people in Darfur carrying out his responsibilities of leading the movement” Ahmed Hussein spokesperson of JEM told Sudan Tribune by phone.
“The government’s [Sudanese] story of his injury and cornering him is false. This is all hysteria from the mental shock they received after our operation” he said.
However the JEM official declined to provide details on when Ibrahim was able to make it to Darfur following a massive security search operation for him in the capital’s twin city of Omdurman.
Sudan TV broadcasted a photo of JEM leader asking citizens to call a special hotline if they saw him. The government also announced a reward of $125,000 for information leading to his capture.
Residents of the Sudanese capital have been circulating numerous and conflicting rumors yesterday about the capture of JEM chief and attributing it to various security officials. Some went as far as saying that he was already captured or killed.
The Al-Arabiya TV broadcasting from Dubai reported that Ibrahim has been captured.
The Sudanese authorities said that JEM top man escaped his vehicle after receiving a direct hit during the fighting.
The JEM spokesperson said that Ibrahim will speak to the media from Darfur “very soon”.
SUCCESSFUL ATTACK
Hussein said that JEM forces carried out “a very brave and historical operation inside Khartoum”.
“This sends a strong message to the regime whose president said publicly that he doesn’t want any POW’s or injured in Al-Fasher [capital city of North Darfur]. He is also the same person who said that they took power by force and who wants it back he should try doing it by force” he added.

Hundreds of rebels from war-ravaged Darfur clashed with Sudanese security forces on the doorstep of the capital Saturday in a dramatic widening of the five-year-old conflict.
TV footages showed pictures of burnt vehicles and dead bodies including that of the right-hand man to JEM leader named Jamali Hassan Jelaladin. It also showed corpses of the alleged operation leader Mohamed Jarbo and his intelligence chief Mohamed Nur Al-Deen.
However JEM spokesperson said that there are no officials with the name of Jarbo and Al-Deen in their ranks. He also said that Jelaladin’s was arrested by Sudanese security after his vehicle broke down and “subsequently shot him”.
Hussein said that the attack will “have a positive impact on the political will of the ruling party for a comprehensive peace and democratic transformation. The legend that their army is unbeatable is no longer true”.
He further said that the rebel group was able to strike fighter jets at a military base in northern Omdurman “used to attack Darfur”.
“We avoided fighting our way towards the radio and TV stations because we are committed to avoiding civilian casualties unlike the regime who killed some of our POW’s” he added.
AL-Bashir said in a televised statement that he holds Chad responsible of the foiled attack by JEM troops against the Sudanese capital. He also announced that diplomatic relations with Chad have been broken.
_________________
A friend once said, and I found to be true
That everyday people, they lie to God too
So what makes you think, that they won't lie to you?!

May 12, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese authorities have arrested Islamist leader Hassan Abdallah al-Truabi and at least four top members of his party, the Popular Congress Party after rebel JEM attack on Khartoum.

JPEG - 7.8 kb
Hassan al-Turabi

Al Turabi has been arrested this Monday morning from his house in Khartoum after his return from Ennar state where he was taking part in a PCP conference.

Popular Congress Party sources told Sudan Tribune that Bashir Hamed Rahmah, Kamal Omer and Abubakr Abdel-Raziq were arrested with him.

Khalil Ibrahim, the leader of the rebel JEM, was in the past a member of the Sudanese Islamist movement and supportive of Hassan al-Turabi. Sudanese government says Turbi and Ibrahim are still coordinating political action.

However, both of them, Turab and Ibrahim deny this accusation.

This is not the first time that Turabi is arrested by the Sudanese government on his links with the rebel JEM. He was already imprisoned in the Kobar prison in March 2004 and released on June 28, 2005 after the signing of the CPA.

The coup accusations and his arrest in March 2004 came only months after his release from custody in October 2003.

(ST)
Related subjects :
Politics :

* Sudan releases Islamist leader al-Turabi
* A hundred twenty five millions reward to capture a rebel leader
* SPLM to replace defeated governors in South Sudan - Wani
_________________
A friend once said, and I found to be true
That everyday people, they lie to God too
So what makes you think, that they won't lie to you?!

Sudan hunts Darfur rebel leader after deadly attack

KHARTOUM (AFP) - Sudan was still hunting a Darfur rebel leader on Tuesday after an unprecedented attack on Khartoum by his group brought the fight within shooting distance of the seat of power for the first time.

Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Mohammed Hussein told the official SUNA news agency that Khalil Ibrahim, who heads the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), was known to be in North Darfur.

Sudan has called on "all citizens all over Sudan, especially in Darfur and Kordofan states, to immediately provide the authorities with any information that will lead to the arrest of Khalil Ibrahim," SUNA reported.

The military had announced that 250 million pounds (123 million dollars) would be paid to anyone who captures Ibrahim or provides information on his whereabouts.

On Saturday, JEM rebels fought government forces in Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman, which lies just across the Nile from the capital, prompting an indefinite curfew and closure of Khartoum's airport.

Sudanese authorities told the English-language Sudan Tribune daily that 400 rebels and 100 security forces were killed in the fighting, which led Khartoum to sever ties with neighbouring Chad.

Sudanese security services have arrested more than 300 Sudanese and Chadians following the attack, the foreign ministry said.

Islamist opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi and at least four other members of his Popular Congress party were released after several hours in detention on Monday, but at least 16 other officials were still being held, Awad Babakr, the director of Turabi's office said.

On Monday, witnesses reported gunfire around the US embassy and said the military was heavily deployed in Omdurman as the army searched for rebels.

The security services were firing at rebel remnants holed up in residential buildings, although no shooting was reported on Tuesday.

SUNA said the Sudanese military had killed a leading JEM commander and had chased down, fought and wiped out a 45-man rebel force 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Omdurman.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said the mass arrests in Khartoum of perceived supporters of Darfur rebels and other political opponents raised fears of mistreatment.

"The Sudanese government may be systematically rounding up suspected rebel or opposition supporters in Khartoum," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at HRW. "Given Khartoum's record of abuse, there is grave cause for concern about the fate of those detained."

The Sudanese government however said that all those detained would be fairly treated.

"Those who were arrested and who had been involved in the recent attack on Omdurman will be brought to a fair military trial," Hussein told SUNA.

He said rebel forces had incurred a "huge loss" during the attack, adding that their operation had failed.

But JEM deputy chief of staff Suleiman Sandal told AFP on Monday the movement had decided to abandon the fight in Darfur and take the battle to the capital.

"We will no longer fight in Darfur and the desert, we will fight in Khartoum," Sandal said, adding that he ws speaking from Omdurman.

Saturday's attack saw Sudan sever diplomatic ties with Chad, which it accused of backing the rebel assault.

Chad said it regretted Khartoum's decision, denied any involvement in the attack and condemned a raid on the Chadian embassy.

On Monday Chad closed its porous eastern border with Sudan "in order to avoid all infiltration and suspect traffic." It also froze economic and cultural ties.

Sudan's foreign ministry said it had evidence of communication between the rebels, the Chad government and the Chadian embassy in Khartoum.