Two Darfur rebels groups to merge

ISN SECURITY WATCH (Saturday, 21 January: 10.25 CET) - The two main rebel movements in Sudan’s western Darfur region have announced they were merging to create a single alliance, news agencies reported.

The Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) agreed to join all political and military forces and double their combat capacity under a new name, the Alliance of Revolutionary Forces of West Sudan.

“It will further strengthen the position of the armed movements in peace negotiations currently under way in Abuja in Nigeria,” they said in joint Friday statement.