CAIRO — Sudan plans to turn rebel and militia leaders into generals
for the
newly-expanded military.
The appointments of insurgency leaders to senior posts in the military
would mark the integration of southern militia forces into the Sudanese
army, Sudanese officials said. So far, 182 officers and soldiers from the
South Sudan Defense Forces were inducted into the military.
The militia, which split from the rebel Sudanese People's Liberation
Movement, has been supportive of the Khartoum regime and battled rebels over
the last few years. Several of the officers have already been promoted to
the rank of general in Sudan's military, officials said.
The absorption of the southern militias into Sudan's military was part
of an agreement to end the 21-year-old civil war. Khartoum and the SPLM were
scheduled to sign a peace accord on Jan. 9, Middle East Newsline reported.
The United States would be represented at the signing ceremony,
scheduled to take place in Kenya. Secretary of State Colin Powell was
designated to represent the United States.
Under the accord, Sudan would contain two armies, one headed by the
government and the other by the SPLM. The arrangement would last until 2011,
at the end of a six-year interim period in which the issue of the south's
sovereignty could be resolved.
Officials said SPLM leader John Garang would be named vice president of
Sudan. They said SPLM commanders would not be immediately inducted into
Sudan's regular military. Khartoum has accused the SPLM of helping rebels
sustain the war in the western province of Darfour.
At the same time, Khartoum has warned of a new rebel offensive in the
Darfour province. For their part, the rebels have reported heavy fighting in
southern and northern Darfour and the downing of a military helicopter.
"We have received information that the two rebel movements in Darfour
have a plan to increase their aggressions in the Darfour states at the same
time as the peace signing ceremony in Nairobi," Sudanese Foreign Minister
Mustafa Osman Ismail said. "They want to indicate that peace has not been
reached and the Darfour problem has not yet been solved."
