Sudanese rebels 'defect'

Reports from Sudan say more than seventeen-hundred fighters from the main southern rebel faction have given themselves up to government forces this week.

The official news agency said there were twenty officers of the Sudan People's Liberation Army among those who surrendered with their weapons in the south-west.

Military officials were quoted as saying the defections were due to efforts by a former rebel leader, Kerubino Kwanyin Bol, who signed a peace accord with the government last year.

There's been no independent confirmation and no comment from SPLA leaders so far.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service