Officials say that clashes between Sudan's army and Darfur's most powerful rebel group have left more than 160 people dead. Army spokesman Capt. Khalid Al-Sawarmi said Saturday that government troops killed 108 fighters from the rebel Justice and Equality Movement in the Jebel Moon area of western Darfur a day earlier. Sudan's official SUNA news agency reported that government forces also battled JEM rebels near Nyala in south Darfur. SUNA quotes senior police official Dr. Mohamed Abdul Magid Al-Tayeb as saying 27 police and 33 rebels were killed in those clashes. JEM confirmed the south Darfur violence in a statement Saturday. Earlier, Sudan's army said it had seized a key rebel stronghold in Darfur and killed 108 insurgents Friday. However, the rebel group dismissed the report, saying it had withdrawn from the remote Jabel Moun area voluntarily days earlier to spare the population government bombing raids and shelling. But it said other recent clashes showed Sudan's government had chosen to go back to war and the chances of finding a negotiated solution were now “very remote”. JEM said two weeks ago it was suspending peace talks with the government, accusing it of breaking a ceasefire and failing to honor an initial peace deal signed in Qatar in February. Al-Sawarmi said government soldiers had also died in the attack but did not have numbers. JEM said its troops had already moved out to different areas in North and South Darfur states, as well as neighboring South Kordofan. Senior JEM official Al-Tahir Al-Feki said JEM was still prepared to return to talks if Khartoum and international mediators agreed to comply with a list of issues, including the honoring of a previous ceasefire and the recognition of JEM as the sole rebel negotiator. “But I don't see any real prospect of negotiations or a peaceful settlement. Because the other side does not want it,” he said. “Sudan has chosen war against peace and we are up for it ... This is a reality. It is a state of war.”
