Sudanese government plans to remove Kalma camp – governor
August 9, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — The Governor of South Darfur State disclosed Monday his intention to relocate Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Kalma which is seen as a bastion of rebels supporters in the restive region of western Sudan.
Speaking in a press conference held Monday in Khartoum, the Governor Abdel Hamid Musa Kasha said the state government is determined to remove Kalma camp which he described “as military base and political platform” for the SLM leader Abdel Wahid Al-Nur who is not part of the peace process in Doha.
He further said that the camp which he termed as “a hide out for criminals fleeing from justice” lies near the railway station and Nyala Airport. This proximity to the airport increases the “security threat for UNAMID planes,” he underlined.
Last week following a meeting in Paris with the Joint Chief Mediator Djibril Bassole, the SLM leader Abdel Wahid Al-Nur called on Kalma residents to ease tension and to stop clashes with supporters of LJM rebels.
Reacting to Kasha’s statements, Al-Nur today rejected the removal of the camp. “We reject totally the statements of the Governor who was one of authors of the genocide against Darfur people,” he said.
The rebel leader renewed his call for calm but warned that the lack of international pressures on Khartoum hostile policy against the IDPs may force the later to resist any new attack by the authorities.
“We also warn that the survivors of the genocide have the right of live and the natural right to defend themselves and no one can deny it,” he stressed.
He further warned UNAMID of taking part in the destruction of the camp saying “accepting this removal is a “provocation and an affront to humanity, and we caution against any participation in this Final Solution”.
“We urge the international community to take a strong stance against such injustice because in the presence of such silence Darfurians have no other choice but to defend themselves.”
The head of the peacekeeping mission in Darfur, Ibrahim Gambari called yesterday on the government to ease the tension in Kalma camp and met Monday with a series of senior officials in Khartoum including Presidential adviser Mustafa Osman Ismail.
The UNAMID advised the Sudanese government to put aside its demand to handover six IDPs because this demand may affect negatively efforts to reach political solution.
However the South Darfur State governor renewed his adherence to its demand for UNAMID to handover the six persons.
“We insist to present the perpetrators to a fair trial. There is no room for courtesy in this respect, whether with UNAMID or any other trend”, Kasha said.
The troubled camp witnessed in August 2009 one of the most dramatic clashes between the residents and the Sudanese security forces where some 30 people had been killed and many others wounded. At the time the UNAMID condemned the “disproportionate use of lethal force by the GoS security forces against civilians, which violated their human rights and resulted in unacceptable casualties”.
According to the UN agencies, more than 2.5 million people have been displaced, and more than 200,000 killed in the conflict in Darfur since 2003. The Sudanese government says no more than 10,000 people have died.
(ST)