Darfur Rebels Say They Shot Down Government Plane

Darfur rebel commanders said they had shot down a government MiG 29 plane they say was bombing civilian villages.

Darfur rebel commanders said on Wednesday they had shot down a government MiG 29 plane they say was bombing civilian villages in their areas in Sudan's Darfur region but the army denied any plane had been shot down.

"We have downed a plane - MiG 29 around 4.5 km south of Adila yesterday around 5 p.m. (1400 GMT)," commander Abdel 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 the rebels of attacking the government-controlled town.

The Justice and Equality Movement said the government attacked their areas around Adila ahead of a U.N.-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 denied any plane had been shot down.

"This is not true. All our planes are accounted for," the spokesman said.

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

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

Sudan on Tuesday said it would abide by a ceasefire but would defend itself against any attacks.

Presidential adviser Mustafa Osman Ismail told reporters the government would attend any talks with the rebels "with an open heart and an open mind".

Last year Khartoum signed a Darfur peace deal with only one of three rebel negotiating factions. Since the insurgents have split into more than a dozen factions.

Divided rebel factions agreed a broad common platform for peace talks in Tanzania this week, sitting together for the first time in more than a year.

They want to discuss power and wealth sharing, and land and humanitarian security at future talks.

Ismail said any negotiations would use last year's deal "as a base". Rebels reject the deal and are demanding it should be renegotiated from scratch.

U.N. Darfur envoy Jan Eliasson travelled to Darfur on Wednesday, but Sudanese security forces refused to allow journalists or African Union personnel to accompany him.

U.N. airport officials said the authorities were refusing to let any non-U.N. staff travel on U.N. planes.

One government source, who declined to be named, blamed internal governmental differences for the problem.

"Some people think they can do what they like," the source said. "It makes us look bad." The United Nations declined to comment.