Sudan: Israel arming Darfur rebels

Sudan: Israel arming Darfur rebels

Global Research, February 4, 2009

Israel has supplied a rebel group involved in the Darfur conflict in Sudan with a considerable amount of weaponry, a new report says.

The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) has received considerably heavy military logistical support from Israel, Sudan's state media reported on Sunday.

The shipment has been sent through France, which is in charge of training military personal inside neighboring Chad, the Sudanese Media Center, a news outlet with links to Sudan's security service said.

France maintains a 1,650 soldier mission to Chad as part of the EUFOR mission to protect refugees who have fled the conflict in Darfur in neighboring Sudan.

The JEM which seized the city of Muhageriya about two weeks ago is considered Darfur's most powerful rebel group.

The group managed to capture the city form forces loyal to the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) faction of Minni Minawi, which is the only rebel group to have signed a peace deal with Khartoum.

Sudan accuses Chad of providing military and logistical support for the rebel group's attacks on Southern Darfur.

Chad, however, blames Sudan for the creation of the Union of Resistance Forces, an umbrella group for the main Chadian rebel factions created in late January 2008.

The two neighbors broke off diplomatic relations last year, with each accusing the other of supporting rebel assaults on their capitals.

Although relations were re-established in November, ties still remain tense between the two central African nations.

Israel plans to strengthen ties with Sudan rebels

WorldTribune.com

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

　

TEL AVIV — Israel has approved plans to expand relations with rebel movements in Sudan.

Israeli sources said the plans would focus on collaboration with rebel forces in the war-torn Darfour province, Middle East Newsline reported.

The rebels were said to have helped Israel track a Hamas weapons convoy through Sudan in January 2009. The convoy, struck near the Egyptian-Sudanese border, was destroyed by a fleet of Israel Air Force F-15 and F-16 fighter-jets as well as unmanned aerial vehicles. "Relations with Darfour rebels are not new," an Israeli source said.

In February 2009, the head of the Sudanese Liberation Movement arrived in Israel and met with government representatives. The sources said Abdul Wahid Al Nour arrived in Israel and met Defense Ministry political-military bureau director Amos Gilad, regarded as the top envoy of Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

Al Nour also attended the annual strategic Herzliya Conference. He did not address the gathering.

"The leader of one of the rebel groups in Sudan's Darfour region visited Israel to request its support in the rebel fight against the Sudanese government," the Israeli daily Haaretz said.

Al Nour was also said to have met senior officials of Israel's Mossad espionage agency, including director Meir Dagan. The Mossad had been assigned to track Hamas weapons convoys through Sudan.

The Sudanese Liberation Movement, founded in 1992, has been fighting the Khartoum regime in Darfour since 2001. Six year later, Al Nour fled to France and began organizing support in Europe for the rebellion.

At least 600 Darfour residents have fled Sudan and settled in Israel. The government has granted them asylum and the right to work in Israel.

The sources said Israel has long maintained relations with rebel groups in Sudan. But until a few years ago those relations were limited to non-Arab forces in southern Sudan that had waged a 20-year war for independence.

"In the interests of national security, various meetings are held," the Defense Ministry said after the Al Nour-Gilad meeting. "We are not in the habit of responding after each of these meetings."

Darfur rebel leader visited Israel

By Amos Harel and Barak Ravid

Ha'aretz, February 17, 2009

The leader of one of the rebel groups in Sudan's Darfur region recently visited Israel to discuss with a senior Israeli official the situation in Sudan.

Abdel Wahid al-Nur is the head of the Sudan Liberation Movement. While in Israel, he met with the senior official and discussed with him the ongoing conflict in Sudan.

Al-Nur came to Israel earlier this month at his own initiative, to attend the annual Herzliya Conference. He came with a group of European Jews, most of them French, who have been active on behalf of the Darfur refugees. He did not speak at any of the sessions, but did observe several.

At the conference, he was introduced to the senior official, and the two arranged a meeting, which took place a few days later.

The Defense Ministry responded, "In the interests of national security, various and sundry meetings are held. We are not in the habit of giving responses after each of these meetings."

The Sudan Liberation Movement was founded in 1992. It is a secular group that opposes the Islamist regime of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, and its official stated goal is to turn Sudan into a democracy that grants equal rights to all its citizens. However, it also has a military wing that has been fighting government forces in Darfur since 2001.

Close ties

Al-Nur fled to France in 2007 and has not been back to Sudan since then. He has won support from international human rights organizations and is considered very close to French Jewish philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy.

In the past, he has spoken in favor of establishing diplomatic ties between Sudan and Israel, and a year ago, he even announced that his movement was opening an office in Tel Aviv, staffed by Sudanese refugees who found asylum in Israel after fleeing the massacres committed by Bashir's forces in Darfur.

However, this was his first visit here.

Israel currently has more than 600 Darfur refugees, and Ehud Olmert's government decided to grant them all asylum and work permits. This decision was made in part because Bashir's government announced that any Sudanese refugee who set foot in Israel would be considered a "Mossad agent" and would therefore be sentenced to death should he or she ever return to Sudan.

Back to our section on Jewish/Israeli influence in Sudan