Why so many rebel groups in Darfur
Why Several Rebel Groups in Darfur, If The Moved Is Not a Call for
Self-Destruction?
By Koang Tut Jing
Jan 14, 2007 — One could wonder if the same problem which daunted the SPLA/M is again
hunting down the Africans’ struggle in Darfur! Currently our
brothers/sisters in Darfur are becoming fractures of fighters of which
tribal movements are continuously formed. The SLM/A which was the main hope
for people of Darfur is now diminishing into small hopeless fraction of
fighters. The rivalry between the Zaghawa and Fur leaders within the SLM/A
have brought down the movement’s strength miserably. The fundamentalist
Justice and Equality Movement are not any better as they are another Muslim
fanatic with less legitimacy to express the will and aspiration of
Darfurians or marginalized Sudanese in general. Much worse thing that
emerged yesterday was the creation of Greater Sudan Liberation Movement/Army
by elements from Minni Minnawi faction of SLM/A which signed the deal with
NIF/NCP Movement in Khartoum. How can four factions of rebels with deep
mistrust among themselves free the people of Darfur when they do not
cooperate? No doubt in my mind the formation of those rebels is a call for
Self-destruction and will result to endless misery for people they are
trying to liberate from their agony.
Al-Nur and Minnawi would have learnt what weakened the SPLA/M when it was
formed and during the split of early 1990s. Is the History repeating itself
or what? What is happening in SLM/A rank and file was the history of SPLA/M
struggle which was ripped along the Nuer-Dinka tribal line. The SPLA/M was
strong and was fighting the war under the cover of bushes of Southern Sudan
unlike the Darfur. But when split occur within it ranks and file the
consequences were far more badly and in unimaginable scale. It would be
advisable if al-Nur and Minnawi turn their back to Zaghawa-Fur tribal line
and re-unite the rank and file of SLM/A to pursue the freedom of people of
Darfur who have been deprived of their right since independent of the Sudan.
Nearly seventeen years ago the then Chief Security of SPLA/M, Salva Kiir,
empathized on how important the unity is for freedom fighters when he
addressed certain battalions from Intifadha Division of SPLA/M. He said “if
we scattered the enemy will round us up one by one and finish us off”.
Despite those valuable statements from the top leaders, the SPLA/M was to
make unprecedented collision one year later incited by tribalism between
Dinka and Nuer in which the Movement was indefinitely bogged down. In the
same way, the Zaghawa-Fur tribe-line is now hunting down the people of
Darfur whose hope was solely on SLM/A. This is the dangerous experience the
SPLA/M and its people under-went.
The people of Darfur will have to live with the fact that their sacrifices
and acceptance of misery for the sake of freedom is almost in vain if the
SLM/A groups do not reconcile and re-unite their ranks to restore the hope
of their people. Internal conflict within SLM/A won’t help the cause but
demolish it for good. What would be the sacrifice for? In 1991, the vice
president of GOSS threw the SPLA/M and its people into turmoil. Now Minnawi
of SLM/A become another Riek Machar of Darfur by signing an unrealistic
peace that do not solve the main issue that caused the war in the first
place. I thought Minnawi has learnt some lesson from the New Sudan struggle
but he is instead re-writing the history. Leaders in Darfur should be
reminded that when the New Sudan fighters fell into this internal conflict
taking place in Darfur currently in between the rebels, our dream was almost
vanishing with air. That led to NIF having upper hand in the battlefield
from late 1991 to October 1995 when the SPLA/M turned the tide against NIF’s
army in the field.
Minnawi should avoid being another Riek Machar of Darfur by collaborating
with the brutal enemy in Khartoum. Riek’s close cooperation with NIF against
the SPLA/M did harm the whole cause. The NIF exploited the oil through the
help from Riek Machar which made them able to arm themselves to teeth. It
would be dangerous if Minnawi miscalculates this fact. People do things
unthoughtfully and when they realized the truth, they try to change the
course after inflicting unforgettable damages against their people.
Unfortunately, some remarks as this “if we do not have cars to fuel with our
oil, our cows can drink it”. One could not be sure if the GOSS vice
president knows how damaging this statement has done. Now Minnawi and other
Darfur leaders collaborating with NIF risk making the same mistake that hurt
the SPLA/M for years.
Today the SLM/A split into three factions without common ground, are the
leaders in SLM/A groups genuine? To over-come that repressive regime in
Khartoum, the SLM/A must unite it ranks and fight that brutal enemy
collectively in order to express the will and aspirations of people they
represent. If they remain shattered as they are today, the NIF will crush
them to dust and the dream will be gone once and for all! It would be good
if Minnawi, Hussein and al-Nur drop their interest for the sake of their
peoples’ unity. Survival depends on standing together in a time like this.
I hope your brothers in SPLA/M will not leave you alone in your agony! May God bless the New Sudan and its people!
The author is a Sudanese living in Pacific Rim. He can be reached at
[email protected]