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Sudan's government has asked UN peacekeepers in Darfur to withdraw from the flashpoint town of Muhajaria, the scene of clashes with rebels, the peacekeeping force said on Sunday.
"We received a request to withdraw from Muhajaria by the government of Sudan," Josephine Guerrero, a spokesman for the United Nations and African Union peacekeeping Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), said. "This decision is not final because there are still discussions underway," he said.
Darfuri rebels of the Justice and Equality Movement seized the town two weeks ago from forces loyal to the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA) faction of Minni Minawi, the only rebel group to have signed a peace deal with Khartoum.
Sudanese troops shelled JEM positions near the town in response and JEM said it repulsed a convoy of 130 army vehicles and its air support. UNAMID has about 190 people stationed in the town, out of 15,000 soldiers in Darfur.
About 300,000 people have died in Sudan's western province, the UN says, after Darfuri rebel groups took up arms against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum in 2003, complaining of discrimination. Khartoum says 10,000 people have died in the six years of conflict.
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