Four JEM-Dabajo commanders arrive to Khartoum after their release
November 3, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – Four former rebel commanders of the Justice and Equality Movement – Dabajo (JEM-Dabajo) returned to Khartoum on Thursday after their release by JEM main stream led by Gibril Ibrahim.
The splinter commanders had been detained after clashes with their former comrades on the border between Chad and Sudan in May 2013. The faction leader Mohamed Bashar and his deputy Arko Suleiman Dahia were killed during the fighting.
“The four prisoners arrived into the country from Aweil in South Sudan by road after an arduous journey, before being transported to Khartoum by plane,” JEM-Dabajo Political Adviser Nahar Osman Nahar told Sudan Tribune.
He added that the released prisoners are: al-Tayeb Khamis, Ibrahim Zaribah, Salah Adam al-Wali and Mohamed Ali Mohamadain.
JEM-Dabajo signed a peace agreement with the Sudanese government in Doha, in April 2013. Bashar convoy was in rout to their troops on the ground after the signing ceremony ahead of their return to Khartoum when they clashed with JEM fighters on the border.
Nahar said their release is a step in the right direction to repair the mistake committed three years and a half ago near the border with Chad.
The political official called to release five others prisoners saying they are still held in South Sudan. He said the remaining prisoners are: Ali Wafi Bashar, Ali Galo, Adel Mahjoub Hussein Yassin Abdallah Zakaria, Mohamed Abakar Idris.
Last October, JEM leader Gibril Ibrahim said they released all detainees and Prisoners of War (POWs) from the government army and breakaway factions, adding they are waiting for the International Red Cross to transfer them to their families.
He earlier announced that their decision to release of all detainees and POWs was in response to appeals from religious leaders, civil society organizations and national figures.
(ST)