Sudan Gets Iranian Military Help?

Africa Confidential says that an unmanned drone shot down by a Darfur rebel group on August 28 was an Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicle, which was operating in the Darfur region in violation of the U.N. arms embargo.

Africa Confidential Editor Patrick Smith tells VOA’s Alisha Ryu in Nairobi that rebels of the Sudan Liberation Movement Unity faction recovered parts of the UAV and helped western military experts identify it. He says the drone, which is capable of carrying a 45-kilogram bomb, was probably controlled by Iranian technicians in Sudan.

"Sudanese rebel forces got hold of parts of it and they have spoken to several international governments about it because of the implications of Iran breaking sanctions. We are absolutely certain about this. It is an open secret that the Iranians have been training their [Sudan's] military operatives. That is beyond dispute," he said.

The government in Khartoum acknowledged last month that it had lost a drone in Darfur, but officials said the unmanned plane was made in Sudan and that it had been spraying pesticides on crops when it crashed.

Khartoum's Under-Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mutruf Sadiq says he has no knowledge of Iranian-made UAVs operating in Darfur. But he denied that Tehran is providing military training and assistance to Sudanese forces.

"No, no, no, no, no. We do not have any Iranian military experts here in Sudan. It is absolute nonsense," he said. (See the whole story here)