Explainer: A Profile of Sudan's Main Rebel Groups

 The Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF),

·      An alliance of rebel groups including the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Army faction led by Minni Minawi.

·      Wants a role transitional government

·      Wants its fighters formally integrated into the Sudanese military.

 Sudan Liberation Movement-North, Abdel-Aziz Al-Hilu faction

·      Not a part of the SRF

·      Largest rebel group in Sudan - controls large chunks of South Kordofan and the Blue Nile.

·      Abdel-Aziz Al-Hilu refuses to hold talks with the military council or the pro-democracy movement.

·      Al-Hilu threatens an independence movement unless Sudan becomes a secular state, al-Bashir’s militias are disbanded and the military is revamped.

• As a result of these demands, Al-Hilu’s faction broke away from other components of the SLM-N, who remain in the SRF.

 The Sudan Liberation Movement, Abdelwahid al-Nur faction (SLM-AW)

·      SLM-AW reject the transitional government, and the peace talks.

 Challenges

·      The rebels lack a common political ideology, contrasting the Islamic-leaning JEM to the secular SLM-N.