Sudan’s anti-dam committees join SRF-Agar
February 20, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF)-Agar faction Nonday said the committees representing the water dams affected population has joined the rebel umbrella pointing the move comes within the framework of its strategy to unify the political and armed opposition forces to overthrow the regime.
Communities displaced by the dam projects in the North and River Nile States oppose the construction of these facilities.
Four persons from Kajbar area were killed during protests against the construction of the dam in 2007. Also, in April 2006 three demonstrators were killed in Amri area during protests against the Meroe project.
The anti-dam protests have intensified following the signing last November of an agreement between Sudan and Saudi Arabia to fund the building of Al-Shiraik, Kajbar and Dal dams to produce power.
In a press release extended to Sudan Tribune Monday, SRF-Agar chairman Malik Agar described the joining of the anti-dams committees as “normal step that embodies hopes of these communities to enjoy a free, dignified and stable life”.
He stressed that the move is considered an important development toward unifying persons fighting for “just causes” in order to place them on top of the national agenda, pointing to the protracted confrontations between the dams affected people and the regime.
“Despite that, the regime’s security continues to detain and prosecutes the [anti-dam committees] leaders. The regime poses a direct threat to millions of Sudanese lives by insisting on building projects which experience has shown time and again that its technical and economic infeasibility,” he said.
Agar added that the SRF leadership is working tirelessly with people fighting for just causes in all parts of Sudan, calling on them to join the umbrella in order to unify national efforts to topple the regime and establish a state that accommodates all Sudanese without distinction.
Since December, SRF-Agar has held large contacts with the various opposition groups and alliances in an attempt to unify the opposition forces.
SRF is a coalition established in 2011 between rebel groups in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile including the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), Sudan Liberation Movement/SLM-AW led by Abdel-Wahid al-Nour and SLM-MM led by Minni Minnawi and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N).
Divergences appeared within the SRF groups in October 2015 when the three groups from Darfur region, JEM, SLM-AW and SLM-MM, issued a statement announcing the appointment of the leader of JEM, Gibril Ibrahim, as chairman of the rebel umbrella.
Since, the SRF has practically split into two factions, one headed by the leader of SPLM-N Malik Agar and the second by Gibril Ibrahim.
(ST)