Sudan blamed for Congo air raid

THE REBEL Congo Liberation Movement (MLC), which is fighting the government of President Laurent Kabila, has accused the Sudan government of killing 524 people - including 134 soldiers - when it bombed two villages in northern Congo on Wednesday.

Analysts said that the government in Khartoum may have bombed targets in Congo in an attempt to derail the Congo peace process and keep its arch enemy Uganda locked into the war. Uganda supports the MLC and Sudan's anti-Khartoum rebels, while Sudan is supporting the Lord's Resistance Army rebels fighting Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

A ceasefire deal between six African governments was signed in Lusaka last month, but the two rebel groups fighting Mr Kabila refused to sign at the time. The MLC signed up to the deal last weekend.

Khartoum may be seeking to open a new front in its own civil war as well as pin down Ugandan forces in the Congo who are giving the MLC leader, Jean-Pierre Bemba, logistical and military aid in his campaign. By doing so, Sudan would prevent Uganda from helping the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), which has fought a 16-year war against Khartoum for religious freedom and self-determination for south Sudan.