* JEM says 22 leaders, 90 pct of rival group defect * SLA-Unity denies leaders left, says 19 soldiers switched (adds SLA Unity denial) By Alastair Sharp KHARTOUM, April 10 (Reuters) - A major Darfur rebel group said 22 political and military leaders from a rival faction joined its ranks on Friday, but a leader of the faction denied any senior figures had defected. Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) commander Suleiman Sandal said the members of the Sudan Liberation Army's Unity faction (SLA-Unity) who defected to his group had brought with them fighters, supporters and equipment. "Five are political leaders and 17 (are) commanders," Sandal told Reuters via satellite phone from Darfur in Sudan's west. "They have joined JEM because they want to unify the struggling in Darfur, and the Darfurian people cannot achieve their demands when there are many factions and fighting among them," Sandal added. Sandal estimated that 90 percent of SLA-Unity's personnel had switched allegiance to JEM, but a senior member of the SLA-Unity faction denied anything more than a small number of minor defections. "This is not correct, it is really not correct," Said Sharif told Reuters via phone from Tripoli in Libya. "These people that left us are not leaders, they are only soldiers," he said, putting the number at 19 and saying they left two days ago. Earlier this month, veteran rebel Suleiman Jamous left the Unity faction and joined JEM to try to unify the rebels. JEM was the only Darfur rebel group invited to February's peace talks with the Sudanese government in Doha, but has said it will not attend further talks until expelled aid groups are allowed to return to Darfur and prisoners are freed. International experts estimate some 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been driven from their homes during almost six years of ethnic and politically driven fighting in Sudan's west. Khartoum puts the death toll at around 10,000. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir last month on charges of masterminding war crimes in Darfur, and violence in Darfur has risen since the indictment. Sudan has also expelled 13 foreign aid groups and closed three local organisations it accused of helping build a war crimes case against the country's president.
A supporter uses a traditional horn during a rally addressed by Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir at Zalinge town, west Darfur, April 7, 2009. Sudan's embattled president told a rally on ...
