20110228
reuters

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Darfur's most powerful rebel group on Monday asked the United Nations to rescue its leader from Libya, saying his life was in danger after accusations he was supplying mercenaries to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The Justice and Equality Movement's (JEM) call suggests the uprising against Gaddafi may create a new dynamic in the eight-year conflict in Sudan's Darfur, which borders Libya.

JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim has been in Libya since May last year when Chad barred him from passing through its territory and confiscated his travel documents.

Any ousting of Gaddafi could deprive Ibrahim of one of his last safe havens in the region. JEM could also lose arms and funding -- analysts have accused Gaddafi of backing JEM since it first launched its revolt against Sudan's government in 2003.

JEM also told Reuters on Monday it was ready to return to full peace talks with Sudan's government, but insisted there was no link between its readiness to travel to the negotiations in Qatar and the need for evacuation.

Witnesses have said Gaddafi has used African mercenaries to fight his people as he tries to crush a revolt against his rule.

Sudan's foreign ministry last week said it had evidence Darfur rebel groups were involved in the fighting in Libya that has claimed at least 1,000 lives in a country that produces two percent of the world's oil.

"We call upon the international community to live up to its responsibility of securing the evacuation of Dr Khalil to where he is safe, in the sake of peace and the sake of securing his life," senior JEM official Al-Tahir al-Feki told Reuters by phone from Paris.