/ 9 January 2000

SUDAN REBELS DENY CARE ATTACK

THE rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) on Sunday denied involvement in an attack in southern Sudan which two Sudanese aid workers died and two other went missing. SPLM/A spokesman Samson Kwaje said that his rebel group has no forces operating in Western Upper Nile, where the incident occurred, and that most of the rebel forces there are pro-government. The Sudanese government’s humanitarian aid commission confirmed on Sunday that the two Sudanese aid workers, employed by CARE International, were killed on January 2 by southern rebels. Rebels in southern Sudan have been battling the Khartoum government for more than 16 years.