Darfur displaced urge international troops, reject AU force
Dec 5, 2006 (KALMA, South Darfur) — Darfur internally displaced persons urged the deployment of the international troops in the region saying African forces are not welcomed because they failed to protect them form the daily violence of the army and the militia.
A representative of the Darfur IDPs told Sudan Tribune by telephone from Kalama refugee camps in South Darfur that a meeting had been held on Tuesday 5 December in the camp regrouping delegates from the different IDPs camps in Darfur. The delegates decided to reject the extension for six months of the AU peacekeeping force in Darfur, he said.
The speaker, who identified himself to the Sudan Tribune, said he is the president of Darfur IDPs. He called up on the international community to deploy troops under the authority of the United Nations.
“We decided to launch an urgent appeal to the international community to say how much we are subjected to the daily killing of Khartoum militia and we need world protection” he said.
He further expressed the rejection, by “the representatives of 56 tribes of Darfur who participated in Kalma meeting”, of the AU force presence in the region. He described it as “ineffective and nonsense”.
The killing of an AU translator and the destruction of the police station by demonstrators against the DPA had forced the AU to withdraw from Kalma in early May 2006 after the signing of the deal.
STRONG SUPPORT TO ABELWAHID AL-NUR
Speaking in a low and fearful voice, the IDPs representative said the meeting decided to renew “its support for Abdelwahid, as the sole representative and defender of our rights”.
Asked to explain his words, he reiterated that the delegates at the IDPs meeting decided “to voice their strong support to Abdelwahid al-Nur as sole representative of the displaced people in Darfur”.
The popularity of al-Nur among the Darfur displaced people comes from his stance on the questions of land claim and his persistent demand of international troops.
Such meeting can indicate the agitation in Darfur as the Sudanese government decided to open the talks with the different rebel groups in order to negotiate on their demands.
(ST)