Darfur rebel group reports mass defection by Arab militias
December 25, 2007 (NORTH DARFUR) — Darfur’s rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) announced today that a large group of Arab tribal leaders and military commanders joined their ranks.
There was no independent verification of the defection.
The JEM statement described the event as a “breathtaking development”; adding that the group included “some who previously acted as Janjaweed leaders or enlisted under the infamous Border Guards”.
Khartoum mobilized proxy Arab militia to help quell the revolt of Darfur rebels who took up arms against the government in February 2003.
The JEM statement said that Sudan’s spy Chief Salah Gosh and Interior Minister Abdel-Rahim Mohamed Hussein “were on a desperate tour to West Darfur with the mandate for revamping government support among the Arabs of Darfur”.
The Arab militia known locally as Janjaweed, pillaged and burned villages and killed civilians. The Sudanese government has called the Janjaweed outlaws and denied supporting them.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant last May against one of the Arab militia commander Ali Kushayb. The warrant for Kushayb lists 50 counts including murder and intentionally attacking civilians.
The former US special envoy to Sudan Andrew Natsios revealed earlier this month that Abdel-Wahid Al-Nur, leader of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) is “in discussion and maybe in alliance” with Mohamed Ali Hamiditi who is the leader of a powerful Janjaweed group.
Mubarak al-Fadil, leader of the Umma Reform and Renewal told Sudan Tribune in an interview that Hamiditi defected from the government along with his 20,000 heavily armed supporters.
The opposition leader said that Hamiditi felt that the “government abandoned him after they accepted the peacekeeping force as well as the fact that they are not paying them as they are used to”. Al-Fadil added that the Sudanese government used the air force against Hamiditi in South Kordofan to quell his rebellion.
Al-Nur acknowledged the alliance with Hamiditi saying that “many members of Arab militias join the ranks of the SLM as recent as April after they realized Khartoum manipulations”.
An analyst speaking to Sudan Tribune from Khartoum on condition of anonymity said that the defection of Arab militias represents a new and alarming development to the Sudanese government. He added that Khartoum will “feel threatened by shift in alliances”.
The rebel movement declared the State of Western Darfur “closed to all incoming flights, except with a prior clearance”.
More than 200 000 people have been killed and some 2.5 million displaced in the four-year conflict in Darfur, an area the size of France.
(ST)