Sudan cuts Chad ties over attack


The Jem rebels are thought to have crossed into Sudan from bases in Chad



Sudan says it has cut off diplomatic relations with Chad blaming it for helping rebels from Darfur to launch an attack on Sudan's capital Khartoum.
Both Chad and Jem rebels deny working together to launch the assault on the Khartoum suburb of Omdurman which the rebels say they have taken control of.
The government said the rebel advance the closest they have come to Khartoum had been defeated.
An overnight curfew imposed on Khartoum has been extended indefinitely.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir made the announcement that his country was breaking off diplomatic ties with Chad on state television.
"These forces [behind the Omdurman attack] are all basically Chadian forces supported and prepared by Chad and they moved from Chad under the leadership of [rebel chief] Khalil Ibrahim" President Bashir said in his televised statement.



But the Chairman of the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) Legislative Council Dr Eltahir Adam Elfaki said the group acted alone.
"Jem is self-dependent. It is a force that built itself from the equipment of the Sudan government following our activities against the Sudan government" he told the BBC from Libya.
"We have defeated them in so many operations. And we are more than sufficient with equipment than to get if from Chad. Chad has nothing to do with this. It's only a Jem operation."
The Chadian government has also denied any involvement.
"The Chadian government has nothing to do with this adventure" Chadian Information Minister Muhammad Hissein told the BBC.
"Furthermore we condemn this adventure and call on all the oppositions of Sudan to join the Abuja agreement for peace. We are surprised by this decision of the Sudanese government. I think it's the first time rebels of Sudan have hit the capital. The Sudanese government has lost its self-control."
He said Chad had not responded to Sudan's cutting of ties.
"We didn't expect Sudan to break relations so we took no decision in response to the Sudanese decision now."
Proxy war
On Saturday Jem rebels claimed to have taken the Wadi Saidna air force base about 10 miles (16 km) north of Khartoum the suburb of Omdurman across the River Nile from Khartoum and to have entered the capital.
Sudanese state TV said Mr Ibrahim led Saturday's assault on Omdurman. The report monitored by the AP agency said he was now in hiding somewhere in the suburb.
JEM REBELS
Founded by Darfuri Muslims loyal to Islamist leader Hassan al-Turabi
Led by lawyer Khalil Ibrahim Muhammad
Believed to have up to 3000 fighters
Now said to have fragmented into several disparate groups






There is now an uneasy calm in Khartoum although there are reports that fighting is continuing in the west of the city says the BBC's Amber Henshaw in Khartoum.
The curfew imposed in Khartoum overnight has been extended at least for the rest of the day a presidential adviser told the BBC.
Schools in the capital are closed and residents are being warned not to leave their homes until they hear it is safe to do so.
A rebel commander Sulieman Sandal told the BBC that the attack sent out a clear message that while there was no security in Darfur there was none in Khartoum either.
Experts say Chad and Sudan are fighting a proxy war using each other's rebels to achieve their military objectives. The Jem is one of several rebel groups fighting the government and pro-government Janjaweed militia in the western Darfur region since 2003 over alleged discrimination by the authorities in favour of Arabs. The rebels have been involved in raids on government forces in the area before.