Darfur group joins Sudan rebel alliance

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AFP) - An alliance of rebel groups committed to regime change in Sudan said on Saturday that a key Darfur rebel movement had joined them, as they convened for a second meeting in the Nuba Mountains.

Two documents outlining the goals of the newly named Sudanese Revolutionary Front seen by AFP, contained the signature of Ahmad Tugud Lisan, a senior member of the Justice and Equality Movement, Darfur's most heavily armed rebel group.

The three original members of the alliance are the SPLM-North and the two main factions of Darfuri rebel group the Sudan Liberation Movement, led by Minni Minnawi and Abdelwahid Nur. They also ratified the documents, which were signed on November 11 in the South Kordofan town of Kauda.

"We confirm our commitment to changing the regime of the National Congress Party by any means, and above all through coordinated popular uprising and armed rebellion," one document said.

"We will react to the attacks by the government in all areas where it operates, including in the capital Khartoum," it added.

The establishment of the alliance was announced after a meeting in Kauda in August, with the SPLM-North saying then that they had agreed to form the nucleus of a united political and military movement for change.

The southern-aligned rebels have been battling the Sudanese army in South Kordofan since June, and were outlawed by the government in September, shortly after the formation of the alliance. It unites rebel groups operating right across Sudan's southern border, from Blue Nile in the east, to Darfur in the west.

Analysts say the Sudanese government, which has repeatedly accused Juba of supporting rebels in the north, believes the newly independent south is actively plotting to bring about regime change in Khartoum.