Darfur rebels say they shot down government plane

KHARTOUM, Aug 8 (Reuters) Darfur rebel commanders said today they had shot down a government MiG 29 plane they say was bombing civilian villages in their areas in Sudan's Darfur region.

''We have downed a plane - MiG 29 around 4.5 km south of Adila yesterday around 5 p.m. local time (1900 hrs),'' commander Adel Aziz el-Nur Ashr from the Darfur rebel Justice and Equality and Movement (JEM) told Reuters by telephone.

Adila is in the far east of South Darfur state. Last week the government accused JEM of attacking the government controlled town.

JEM said the government attacked their areas around Adila ahead of a UN-African Union mediated meeting of rebel factions in Tanzania to renew the peace process.

''We are looking for the pilot,'' said Ashr. ''We have the body of the plane.'' Neither the United Nations, nor the AU, which is monitoring a shaky ceasefire in Sudan's arid west, could immediately confirm the report.

Sudan's army spokesman was not immediately available to comment.

The rebels have brought down government Antonov planes and helicopters over the more than four years of conflict in Darfur.

A UN report said the government had been bombing in Darfur until the end of June, which would violate U.N. Security Council resolutions banning offensive flying.

REUTERS GT KN1640