Khartoum's accusations "pretext" for scuttling talks

Eritrea on Monday again denied involvement in the fighting in eastern Sudan, saying the Sudanese government was making such accusations as a "pretext" to scuttle ongoing peace negotiations with Sudanese rebels. A Sudanese government statement on Friday reiterated its commitment to a cessation of hostilities agreement (Memorandum of Understanding) signed with the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) last week during resumed peace talks in the Kenyan town of Machakos. But, it said, fighting in the east, launched by "an unprovoked military attack by Eritrean forces" in the Rasai area earlier this month, was not necessarily covered by the Memorandum. The agreement "does not preclude the government of Sudan's [right] to repulse the Eritrean aggression", the Sudanese statement said. However Eritrea's deputy ambassador to Kenya, Teweldemedhin Tesfamariam, told IRIN his country had no war with Sudan. "Eritrea has nothing to do with the fighting in Sudan and Khartoum knows this full well," he said. "It is fighting against its opposition forces with whom it has been holding peace talks," he added. "The government of Sudan cannot accept that it is losing the current battles against the [opposition] NDA so it is looking for a perceived external enemy and it is unfortunate it has decided on Eritrea to be the one." The SPLA makes up the biggest component of the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which is based in Asmara. The Sudanese statement said the government had filed a complaint with the UN Security Council against Eritrea which, it said, was "notorious for attacking its neighbours". It said Sudan had notified the Security Council of "its intention to exercise its legal right of self-defence" under the UN charter. Teweldemedhin said Sudan was accusing Eritrea of aggression as a "pretext for scuttling the Machakos talks". "The government of Sudan knows the SPLA cannot be expected to accept such violations of the Memorandum signed in Machakos while the NDA forces are being attacked in the east and government attacks continue in the south," he said. "If they [rebels] pull out of the talks - as the Sudan government wants them to do - then it can blame the rebels for their failure. This is an intricate deception."