Sudan says it reached an agreement with a dissident Janjaweed leader
February 4, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — The government of South Darfur along with local leaders announced that they have reached an understanding with a Janjaweed leader who is believed to have defected and joined the rebel groups.
The Sudanese Media Center (SMC) which has close links to the Sudan’s security services, said that Mohamed Ali Hamiditi who is the leader of a Janjaweed group has agreed to “work hand in hand with government troops”.
Hamiditi was described by SMC as a “defector from the border patrol”.
Last December the former US special envoy to Sudan Andrew Natsios, speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said that SLM leader Abdel-Wahid Al-Nur is “in discussion and maybe in alliance” with Hamiditi.
Natsios said that Hamiditi despite being funded by Khartoum felt betrayed by the central government. Al-Nur who was interviewed by Sudan Tribune at the time acknowledged the alliance justifying it by saying that he “will work with anyone for the safety of his people”.
The Janjaweed leader told SMC that his move to mend fences with the government was “voluntary and without any kind of pressure for the sake of Sudan and Darfur and to foil the plots of the enemy”.
SMC said that the terms of the accord, which is yet to be signed, include cessation of hostilities and halting attacks against government forces or local citizens.
There has been numerous but unsubstantiated reports of defection by Arab tribes from the government side in recent months.
Mubarak al-Fadil, leader of the Umma Reform and Renewal told Sudan Tribune last year 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.
Some analysts said that the mass defection by Arab tribes have pushed the government to appoint a notorious Janjaweed leader Musa Hilal as a special adviser. The appointment has received widespread condemnation by the US and human right groups.
The UN Security Council imposed a travel ban and an asset freeze on Hilal in April of 2006. The US president George Bush ordered similar sanctions on him.
(ST)