The Sudanese army reiterated on Monday its commitment to a cease-fire agreement it reached with rebel movements in the country's western region of Darfur, denying rebel accusation that government troops had attacked rebel camps.

"The armed forces do not launch attacks in any area in Darfur unless they are in the position of self-defense," said Osman Mohammed al-Aghbash, spokesman of the army.

"We have been committed to the 2004 cease-fire agreement even before the latest peace agreement was signed in the Nigerian capital Abuja on May 5," al-Aghbash added.

The government signed a peace agreement with Minni Arkou Minawi, leader of the biggest faction in the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), to put an end to the three-year Darfur conflict.

But the rival SLM faction led by Abdu al-Wahid al-Nour and

smaller rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) led by Khalil Ibrahim, rejected the peace agreement, claiming that it did not meet all their demands.

On Sunday, Minawi-led faction accused the government and its allied militia of attacking its bases in Dar es Salaam in north Darfur, which was denied by the Sudanese army.

"The armed forces have not attacked Dar es Salaam or anywhere," said the spokesman. "There are many empty accusations flying around but none of them are true."

The rebel faction made the accusation on the eve of a visit by a UN special envoy to Sudan to push for a speedy UN takeover of the African Union (AU) peacekeeping mission in Darfur.

The Sudanese government welcomed Lakhdar Brahimi's Tuesday visit, but rejected an immediate deployment of the international peacekeepers in Darfur to replace the 7,800-strong AU forces.

On May 16, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution calling for an international assessment team to be sent to Darfur to prepare for the transition of the peacekeeping mission to the UN.

Source: Xinhua