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10 May, 2008
KHARTOUM - A Darfur rebel commander said on Saturday his JEM group had entered Khartoum and was aiming to take power in Sudan.
However, a security source denied that rebels had entered the city, telling Reuters that the situation was under control.
Khartoum was placed under an overnight curfew after fighting in the west of the capital.
Heavy gunfire was heard and helicopters and army vehicles headed towards the suburb of Omdurman, witnesses said. Artillery was heard later, becoming more frequent as the evening wore on.
The Darfur Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebels said they had taken control of Omdurman which lies on the opposite bank of the River Nile from Khartoum.
"We are now trying to control Khartoum. God willing we will take power, it's just a matter of time," senior JEM commander Abdel Aziz el-Nur Ashr told Reuters by telephone.
"We have support from inside Khartoum even from within the armed forces." It would be the first time a rebel group has entered Khartoum.
The security source told Reuters several JEM vehicles had been cornered in Omdurman, saying: "It's under control."
Darfur rebels fought battles with Sudan's army in the North Kordofan province bordering Khartoum on Friday and Saturday, according to a local government official and witnesses.
The army said the curfew was to preserve the safety of the civilians and the situation was under control.
"We are announcing a curfew in the state of Khartoum from 5 p.m. (1400 GMT) until 6 a.m. starting from today May 10th, 2008," an army spokesman said on state television.
Army helicopters flew overheard and roads were closed in Khartoum as the curfew began to take effect.
Khartoum airport was taken over by Sudan's army. One witness said he saw three Egyptian fighter planes and one Egyptian army cargo plane landing at the airport. The witness said he could see the Egyptian flag on the side of the planes.
"IT'S ALL GREEN"
The shooting in Omdurman could be heard on the telephone of one resident who telephoned Reuters on Saturday.
"It's all green here because of the military uniforms. There is a lot of army on the streets, security men and military trucks," another witness in the suburb said.
Diplomatic missions held emergency meetings early on Saturday. They have been on alert since early Friday.
Khartoum houses the bulk of Sudan's population with an estimated 8 million people living in the state. Despite civil wars ravaging Sudan's peripheries for decades, the capital has remained a haven of safety with armed clashes unheard of.
International experts estimate some 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million made homeless in five years of fighting in Darfur after mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms accusing central government of neglect.
New weapons and a loose military alliance with SLA Unity has turned JEM into the most threat to the Khartoum government on the ground in recent months.
JEM is led by Khalil Ibrahim. Ibrahim is distrusted by some who they say has an Islamist agenda and has his eye on power in Khartoum rather than the rights of Darfuris.
Earlier, JEM said it was strengthening its forces in Kordofan but not attacking government troops to avoid causing civilian casualties.
A local government official said the heavily armed rebels had scattered after an army counter-attack.
The army accused Chad on Saturday of backing the rebels. State minister for information, Kamal Obeid, called the events strange and unacceptable. Clearly flustered, he told state television that JEM was "paying the bill for Chad." - Reuters (Editing by Andrew Dobbie)