SOBA ARADI, Sudan, 25 May 2005 — Hundreds of armed police and soldiers surrounded a Sudanese refugee camp south of Khartoum yesterday, where at least 17 police and residents died in clashes last week. The armed forces sealed off the area, about 30 km south of the Sudanese capital Khartoum, said a spokesman for the people of Soba Aradi.
“They have cordoned off all areas and have taken tough measures to stop people leaving,” said spokesman Mohamed Ahmed Abdel Gader Arbab, a lawyer. Clashes erupted last week when Sudanese police tried to relocate refugees mainly from southern Sudan away from the camp. Officials said most of the victims died as crowds massed around the police station and burned it down.
Khartoum Governor Abdul Haleem Mutafi said police were looking for a list of people they suspected of stealing weapons and other “criminal activity”.
“This is nothing to do with the transfer of people. This is related to the security in the area. There are so many criminals in Soba Aradi,” he said.
This correspondent saw at least 20 police vehicles and six lorries full of soldiers in an area outside the camp. The police were heavily armed, with machine guns mounted on many of the vehicles.
