November 10, 2011 (LONDON) – The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) today slammed statements the by leader of the opposition National Umma Party (NUP), Sadiq al-Mahdi over alleged support of the rebel group by the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Sudan’s former Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition National Umma Party (NUP) al-Sadiq al-Mahdi (Reuters)

In an interview with the London based Asharq Alawsat two days ago, Al-Mahdi said Gaddafi had a role in the eight year armed conflict in Darfur region. He stressed that the former Libyan leader was against the Doha peace process and hosted JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim.

"There is no doubt that the Justice and Equality Movement received considerable support from Colonel Gaddafi before his end," Mahdi stated.

JEM spokesperson Gibreel Adam Bilal on Thursday vehemently rejected the statements of the former Sudanese prime minister reaffirming it did not receive any support from the Gaddafi regime.

The rebel official said Khalil Ibrahim, JEM’s chairman, was forced to stay in Libya where he had been placed under house arrest in the Libyan capital before to secure his return to Darfur while after the collapse of Tripoli in the hands of the revolutionaries.

Gibreel further blamed Mahdi for omitting to mention reports about, "Internationally prohibited weapons and missiles smuggled by the regime of the National Congress which used it against civilians in the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile."

He stressed that their alliance with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement –North and the other armed opposition groups does not aim to isolate or to deny the role of the democratic opposition forces. "Over all, it aims to overthrow a regime which is specialised in killing the margin in an orderly and deliberate manner," he underlined.

The opposition NUP and Democratic Unionist Party condemned the atrocities committed in Darfur and call for a negotiated settlement to the Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan conflicts.

The two main opposition parties however call for a democratic transition and reject the use of force to overthrow the government of President Bashir. They also declined calls to join armed opposition in a large alliance.

The NUP and JEM signed in July 2009 a political agreement in Cairo calling to form a national government including all the political forces to settle the political crisis in the country. They also appealed to achieve justice in Darfur.

The leader of the NUP criticised the attack that JEM carried out in May 2008 on the Sudanese capital and called to inflict severe punishment on the rebel fighters arrested at the time in Khartoum and its suburbs.

(ST)