Sudan has 'irrefutable proof' Israel behind air strike
(AFP)
–
18 hours ago
KHARTOUM — Sudan said Sunday it had irrefutable evidence that Israel
carried out the air strike on its Red Sea coast last week that killed
two people and destroyed the car they were travelling in.
Tuesday's
attack was carried out by two AH-64 Apache helicopters, around 15
kilometres (nine miles) south of Port Sudan, Sudan's foreign ministry
said in a statement.
They flew in from the Red Sea and unleashed a
barrage of Hellfire missiles and machinegun fire on the car after
having jammed the local radar system, the statement added.
The US-made helicopters were not owned by any country in the region except Israel, said the statement.
While
Israel has refused to comment on the raid, officials there have
previously expressed concern about arms smuggling through Sudan, which
has close ties with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
The
attack mirrored a similar strike by foreign aircraft on a truck convoy
reportedly laden with weapons in eastern Sudan in January 2009.
Khartoum
has already named the two occupants of the car, whose charred remains
were buried on Friday, insisting they were both Sudanese nationals, and
denying that Sudan was harbouring Islamic militant groups.
The
foreign ministry says Israel carried out the strike in an attempt to
tarnish Sudan's name and prevent it being removed from the US terror
blacklist.
The Khartoum government is desperately seeking Sudan's removal from the US list of state sponsors of terror.
Washington
promised this in return for their allowing January's referendum on
southern independence to take place, and for accepting the overwhelming
vote for secession.
Sudan said it planned to lodge a formal
complaint against Israel with the UN Security Council and would take
similar action at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.