3 injured in shootout among West Darfur governor’s personal guards

January 10, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – Three guards were injured in armed clashes which erupted among the personal guards of the governor of West Darfur state, Haydar Galu Koma, in his house in the state’s capital of al-Geneina.

Security sources told Sudan Tribune that gunfight broke out on Wednesday among the governor’s bodyguards following an altercation, saying that three guards were injured and one of them is in a serious condition.

The same sources said the incident was caused by sharp differences which emerged between the Secretary General of the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM), Bahar Idriss Abu Garda, and the LJM chairman al-Tijani al-Sissi on the implementation of the security arrangements of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD).

Recently, Abu Garda was accused by al-Sissi’s partisans of delaying the implementation of the security arrangements and obstructing the registration of the former rebel group as political party ahead of April general elections.

From his side, LJM secretary general blamed al-Sissi for weakness in his relation with the ruling National Congress Party (NCP). Also, his friend and minister of reconstruction, and Infrastructure in Darfur Regional Authority (DRA) Tadjadine Bechir Niam, denounced the failure of the authority to carry out its mandate and alluded to corruption in the implementation of recovery projects.

He further accused al-Sissi of dispatching elements that are not members of the group to the Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) camps.

Galu Koma, who is the head of the security arrangement committee, oversaw the integration of 2800 LJM fighters into the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) last December at Abu-Domaya training camp.

The DDPD was finalized at the All Darfur Stakeholders Conference in May 2011 in Doha. In mid-July the Sudanese government and the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) led by al-Sissi signed a protocol agreement committing them to the document.

(ST)