Darfur is hostile region for Chinese troops – rebel commander

November 24, 2007 (AL-FALSHER) — A Darfur rebel commander slammed the participation of the Chinese troops in the joint peacekeeping force; he further said that they have to know that Darfur is hostile region for them.

Suleiman Marjan, the Sudan Liberation Movement commander for North Darfur region, told Sudan Tribune, that the Chinese engineers who arrived in Darfur today should now that they are not welcome. He added “We want to tell them that all Darfur is hostile to their presence.”

A batch of 135 Chinese military engineers arrived Saturday morning to Nyala, the capital of southern Darfur. They are supposed to pave the way for the deployment of the 26000 troops of the Hybrid Operation.

The rebel commander said that Beijing is “accomplice” of Khartoum in Darfur killing and crimes and “We can’t trust them or cooperate with.”

Marjan, who is one of the commanders of the SLM founder Abdalwahid al-Nur, said that the peacekeepers are supposed to protect Darfur civilians from militias’ attacks “but now we are aware that areas held by Chinese would not be considered as such.”

Yesterday, the spokesperson of Darfur displaced, Hussein Abusharati, compared in statements to Sudan Tribune the Chinese troops to the Janjaweed militia saying they provided Khartoum the necessary weapons to commit “genocide”. He also said they participate in Darfur peacekeeping mission to protect their interest in Sudan.

The force is tasked with ending more than four years of bloodshed in which more than 200,000 people have died from the combined effects of war, famine and disease in Darfur while 2.2 million others have been left homeless.

Energy-hungry China buys two-thirds of Sudan’s oil output and sells weapons to the Khartoum regime. Critics say Beijing has not used its economic leverage to push Sudan’s government more strongly for peace, and have attempted to shame China into acting by linking the Darfur crisis to next year’s Summer Olympics in the Chinese capital.

(ST)