Sudanese rebels report government air raids

KHARTOUM, Apr 29 (Reuters) Sudanese government aircraft today attacked the site where rebel leaders in the Darfur region were planning to hold unity talks, injuring several people, one of the faction leaders said.

Ahmed Abdel Shafi, head of one of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) factions which did not make peace with the government last year, told Reuters the rebels had brought down one of two helicopter gunships which took part in the attack.

The helicopters, together with an Antonov plane, attacked at 9.30 a.m. 1200 ist at a site in North Darfur state. He declined to be more specific about the location and he did not say whether any leaders had yet arrived there.

''We brought one gunship down. We have several wounded but the situation is under control now,'' Abdel Shafi added.

The commander of another SLM faction, Jar el-Nabi Abdel Karim, told Reuters that government planes and helicopters had attacked a separate target near Hashaba in North Darfur but there were no injuries there.

A Sudanese armed forces spokesman said he had no knowledge of the attacks. He noted last week's statement by presidential adviser Majzoub al-Khalifa that the armed forces have not fought with the rebels for the past two months.

The main SLM faction, led by Minni Arcua Minawi, was the only rebel group to sign last year's peace agreement, which has not brought an end to violence in the vast region.

The United Nations says around 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been displaced in the conflict which flared in Darfur in 2003. The rebels say they are fighting the government because it has neglected the region.

REUTERS KK RK1740