Senior former Darfur rebel shot dead – SLM- Peace
April 6, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — A senior former Darfur rebel was shot dead in his home in Darfur’s main town of El-Fasher, the movement’s head said on Sunday, declining to speculate who was behind the killing.
Suleiman Ishaq Korena, the Secretary General of the North Darfur office of the Sudan Liberation Movement Peace faction, was killed late on Friday, SLM Peace Chairman Ibrahim Madibu told Reuters.
The SLM Peace faction is one of half a dozen splinter groups that signed onto a 2006 Darfur peace deal, gave up rebel activities and set up offices in Khartoum.
But little of the pact has been implemented, causing distrust between the government and the former rebels. At the same time, infighting between about a dozen remaining rebel groups has hindered efforts to resume talks with those who rejected the 2006 deal.
“He (Korena) was alone talking on his mobile and suddenly (those inside the house) heard some shots. They came running out and they found him shot of the floor,” Madibu said in Khartoum.
“Tomorrow morning I am leaving to El-Fasher to find out exactly what happened,” he added. He declined to comment on possible causes of the attack until he had met with investigators in Darfur.
Gun crime in El-Fasher and on Darfur’s roads has risen sharply since mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms five years ago accusing the central government of neglect.
The conflict has claimed an estimated 200,000 lives with 2.5 million forced from their homes, according to the United Nations. Khartoum disputes the figures, saying 9,000 have been killed.
The largest SLM faction which signed the 2006 peace deal, led by Minni Arcua Minawi, said it held the government responsible for the circumstances that led to Korena’s killing.
“This is a clear indication that Darfur is not safe or stable,” said Minawi’s spokesman al-Tayyib Khamis. “We condemn this totally and he hold the government responsible for this.”
Banditry has long been common in the remote west of Sudan, which borders Chad, Libya and the Central African Republic, but armed bands have organised to take advantage of rich pickings from the influx of U.N. and aid agency vehicles since the rebellion began.
(Reuters)