Defecting group mutinies

Around 300 former southern rebels who had defected to the Sudanese government have now mutinied against Khartoum, the main rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army said in Cairo yesterday. "These troops in Torit [in Eastern Equatoria state] have refused to hand over their weapons to government forces and have announced that they will no longer obey the orders of their leaders," a spokesman said, adding that the mutineers came from two defecting rebel factions, including the South Sudan Independence Movement of Mr Riek Machar.