SLM-MM urges international pressure for humanitarian access in S. Darfur
March 9, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – The rebel Sudan Liberation Movement-Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM) called on the international community to put pressure on Sudanese government to open humanitarian access to the needy in Darfur and denied its responsibility of recent vague of violence in South Darfur state.
The government further condemned the silence of the international community over the attacks carried out by the rebel group in the region s saying its attitude encourage them to hamper its efforts for peace.
“The Movement highly appreciates the position of the international community which has been closely monitoring all the violations committed by the genocidaire government,”said Trayo Ahmed Ali, SLM-MM presidential assistant for external relations in a statement released on Sunday.
The rebel official further called on the international community and international organisations to pressurize the government to allow the return of aid groups expelled from the region since 2009.
The holdout rebel group also blamed Khartoum for the continuation of the 11-year conflict in Darfur saying they are keep to reach a genuine negotiated solution to it, mentioning their participation in two workshops organised last year by the joint chief mediator in Arusha and Addis Ababa.
Following a statement by the hybrid mission in Darfur, UNAMID, demanding humanitarian access to the displaced person in the vicinity of Um Gunya, 50 kilometers southeast of Nyala, the US State Department accused the government militias of the attacks and expressed its support for a comprehensive solution for conflicts in Sudan.
From London, the UK foreign office urged Sudanese government to open humanitarian access and to hold accountable the perpetrators of these attacks.
In a related development, the SLM-MM military spokesperson Adam Saleh Babikir claimed that their fighters easily captured Sunday a new area, Um Sa’auna, on the border of North and East Darfur states. the rebels said they captured 8 Land Cruiser vehicles.
TRIBAL FIGHTING
UNAMID said that tribal fighting in Saraf Umra, in North Darfur state, displaced thousands of civilians who sought refuge nearby its compound in the town.
“The Mission is providing protection and water to those affected, as well as medical treatment for more than 30 wounded individuals,” said the mission in a statement released on Sunday.
In a statement released after a meeting with UNAMID and aid groups on Sunday, North Darfur state governor Osman Kibir confirmed the inter-communal fighting saying that efforts by traditional leaders successfully stopped the strife and brokered a reconciliation agreement between the parties to the conflict.
The identity of the tribes involved in the clashes was not disclosed the North Darfur government and the UNAMID kept silent alike.
Last year the Saraf Umra received thousands of displaced persons after tribal clashes in the Jebel Amir area, North Darfur state, between the Abbala and Beni Hussein tribes over control of the region’s lucrative gold mines.
(ST)