SLA-Unity has acknowledged that about 20 fighters have defected. But the
group said none of them was senior members.
"They have joined JEM because they want to unify the struggle in
Darfour, and the Darfourian people cannot achieve their demands when there
are many factions and fighting among them," Sandal said.
JEM has been the largest rebel militia in Darfour and the only faction
invited to reconciliation talks in Qatar in 2009. Sandal said 90 percent of
the membership of SLA-Unity, including their weapons and equipment, have
been transferred to JEM.
In April 2009, a key commander of SLA-Unity, Suleiman Jamous, joined
JEM. Jamous said JEM was capable of unifying the movement against the regime
of President Omar Bashir.
The Khartoum regime has launched a crackdown on JEM. On April 15, a
Sudanese court sentenced to death 10 JEM operatives connected to the
attempted invasion of Khartoum , raising the number of rebels sentenced to
die to 60.
