Former rebel soldier kills 5 police in Khartoum

KHARTOUM, Nov 17 (Reuters) A former southern rebel soldier killed five police oin the edge of Khartoum today in a shootout that further heightened tensions between northerners and southerners in the Sudanese capital.

The former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) signed a peace deal in January 2005 with the Islamist government of Sudan. A coalition government was formed and joint armed units based in Khartoum.

Officials said an SPLA soldier was stopped by police and asked to lay down his weapon early this morning in the Jabel Awliya area south of the capital. He refused and opened fire, killing four policemen instantly. A fifth died later from his wounds.

''The soldier was killed,'' said Joseph Dut, an official from the former southern rebels.

An Interior Ministry official confirmed five policemen had been killed. Another was still in hospital wounded.

The clashes have heightened tensions between northerners and southerners. Those tensions spilled over into the worst ever riots seen in the capital last year after the sudden death of SPLA leader John Garang three weeks after he took office as first vice president.

Many southerners suspected foul play and more than 100 were killed as Khartoum burned and a curfew was imposed.

The bitter north-south war killed 2 million people and forced more than 4 million to flee their homes. More than 2 million southerners live in miserable squatter camps surrounding the capital.

Today police pulled out of the area and the interior minister visited with the aim of calming tension.

REUTERS PDS PM0100