Darfur - How many rebel groups are there?

When major conflict erupted in Darfur four years ago, there were just two major groups - since then the insurgents have splintered into a confusing array of competing factions, some of which have launched a surge of violence as disparate groups jockey for position ahead of peace talks with the Sudanese government in Libya on 27 October.

SLM/A
The Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) was initially the name of a militia led by ethnic Furs which emerged from the unrest that followed a devastating famine in 1987 when an Arab alliance was established and armed by Khartoum to oppose the African farming communities of the Fur, Zaghawa and Masalit peoples.

At the time of the February 2003 insurrection, the SLA reconstituted itself as the Darfur Liberation Front, renaming itself in March as the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM).

The SLM split along tribal lines in November 2005 after a power struggle between Minni Arkou Minnawi (an ethnic Zaghawa who controlled the military arm) and Abdel Wahid Mohamed Ahmed al-Nur (an ethnic Fur who controlled the political wing).

Minnawi faction
Mr Minnawi was the only rebel leader to sign the 2006 DPA after which he accepted a government role as special adviser to the president, triggering fears of a sell-out to Khartoum.

His group has been losing strength as fighters formerly loyal to Minnawi deserted to join other anti-Khartoum groups (among them the Greater Sudan Liberation Movement, G19, Abdel Shafi Faction and SLM-Unity)

Abdel Wahid or Al-Nur faction
Abdel Wahid al-Nur himself is now in exile in Paris and is said to have lost control of the largest group of rebels fighting under the SLM name who are instead under the control of Ahmed Abdel-Shafi, and is known either as SLM-Classic, or SLM-Shafri faction.

Mr al-Nur refused to sign the 2006 Darfur peace agreement (DPA) and is threatening not to attend the Libyan peace talks unless the United Nations-African Union hybrid peacekeeping force is deployed and can guarantee security on the ground in Darfur.

SLM-Unity faction
This faction, possibly led by Abdallah Yehya, has a broad tribal base across North Darfur and is drawn from the Group of 19 commanders who formerly cooperated with Nur until the 2006 peace talks when they split, fearing a sell-out.

SLM-Unity has been blamed for much of the recent violence, including the 29 September attack on an AU base near Haskanita, in which 10 AU soldiers were killed.

Suleiman Jamous is seen as one of the key SLM-Unity figures and was their peace negotiator - currently based in Chad.

Other SLM splinters
The situation on the ground is changing frequently but among the self-styled groups that have split from the SLM are: the Greater Sudan Liberation Movement/Army; two factions calling themselves Free Will; and another known as the National Movement for the Elimination of Marginalization.

JEM
The origins of the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) are rather different, though like the SLM it too is in the process of disintegration.

The group was founded by African Darfuri Muslims loyal to Islamist leader Hassan al-Turabi, whose National Islamic Front (NIF) backed President Omar al-Bashir's 1989 coup against Sadeq al-Mahdi.
It was led by an intellectual, Khalil Ibrahim Muhammad, who wrote ' The Black Book: Imbalance of Power and Wealth in the Sudan' about the disproportionate numbers of Arabs in powerful positions.
He was allegedly ousted in January 2007 by Idris Azraq, as head of the Jem presidential council.
Jem has fragmented into at least five disparate groups, of which the most significant is the NMRD.

NMRD
The National Movement for Reform and Development broke away from Jem in 2004 and is led by former Jem Chief of Staff Jibril Abdel Karim Bari, known as Tek, (who once served as a colonel in the Chadian President Idriss Deby's republican guard), an ethnic Zaghawa from the Kabka clan (like his NMRD co-founders Hassan Abdullah Bargo and Mahamat Ismail Chaibo).

Tek is on the UN sanctions list for alleged war crimes.

The NMRD is said to have incorporated the splinter group led by Mohamed Saleh (which left Jem in 2005 and reportedly merged with the NMRD last year).

National Redemption Front
This was the name given to an umbrella grouping of Darfuri rebel groups opposed to the DPA and founded with Eritrean backing in mid-2006. At the time, led by Ahmad Ibrahim Diraij, it was supposed to include Jem, the Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance and the G19.

Other Jem splinters Very little, other than their names, is known about the composition, leadership and numbers of the lesser Jem breakaway groups: Jem Peace Wing, Field Revolutionary Command and Popular Forces Troops.

(This information is possible thanks to the BBC)