EU condemns Sudan for military's use of white UN-like planes

The European Union condemned on Tuesday the Sudanese military's use of white aircraft in strife-torn Darfur, calling it a deliberate attempt to create confusion with UN planes.

"The European Union calls on the Sudanese authorities to put an immediate end to the military operations which started a few days ago in Darfur," the bloc's French presidency said in a statement.

"It condemns the use of white aircraft in these operations, which is deliberately intended to create confusion with United Nations aircraft," it said, calling on all parties to abide by international law.

The EU also expressed concern that aid, some of it flown into Darfur by the United Nations, is no longer reaching parts of the region.

Rebel commanders have reported a spate of attacks in the past two weeks resulting in heavy fighting with government troops and allied militia backed by aircraft.

Peacekeepers from the joint UN-African Union mission in Darfur (UNAMID) said that an unidentified white helicopter had been spotted on Monday flying in north Darfur over villages controlled by a rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) faction.

"A white colour helicopter not marked with UN emblem or any identifiable markings was seen flying over the eastern part of Sortony," the force said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The situation is being monitored," the statement said.

Rebels in north Darfur said they had seen both helicopters and fixed-wing planes flying over their positions painted in white, prompting them to mistake them initially for UN aircraft.

"This is very dangerous, because our soldiers now don't know if white aircraft are a threat or not," said Ibrahim al-Hillo, a commander of the SLA faction led by Paris-based exile Abdel Wahid Mohammed Nur.

"Of course we don't want to attack the UN, but we cannot tell the difference if the government disguise their forces like this."

Last week, a UNAMID helicopter was fired at but not hit in north Darfur, the second attack this month on a peacekeeping helicopter.

Thousands of vulnerable civilians are feared to have been displaced by a recent upsurge of fighting in north Darfur.

According to the United Nations, up to 300,000 people have died and more than 2.2 million fled their homes since rebels rose up against Khartoum in February 2003. Sudan says 10,000 people have been killed.