LONDON Ñ The United States has warned the Khartoum regime against
proceeding with plans to launch a major attack against southern rebels.
The U.S. warning was part of a message relayed by the Bush
administration to both the Sudanese government and the rebel Sudanese
People's Liberation Army over the last week. The message urged both sides to
remain committed to their current ceasefire reached last month.
The London-based A-Sharq Al Awsat daily quoted reliable diplomatic
sources as saying that the U.S. message asserted that the Sudanese military
is amassing forces for a major attack on rebel forces in eastern Sudan. Such
an attack, the newspaper quoted the U.S. message as saying, posed a direct
threat to the ceasefire.
Sudan has acknowledged its military preparations, but asserted that it
was responding to a troop buildup by neighboring Eritrea. The United States
told Sudan that Washington does not have any evidence of an Eritrean
military buildup.
Last week, Khartoum announced that it planned to recapture rebel-held
areas and defeat the SPLA in southern Sudan during 2003. Sudan's parliament
approved a military budget meant to bolster the armed forces and procure
electronic warfare and reconnaissance equipment for the air force and ground
forces.
But the SPLA asserted that fighting in eastern Sudan would intensify in
the coming days. SPLA officials said the rebels would launch an offensive to
capture Hamshkorib, which came under attack last week by government forces.
