Three Darfur rebel groups splint from a UN sponsored front

July 27, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — Three Darfur rebel group walked out of coalition created after talks in Juba sponsored by the former U.N. AU mediators earlier this year, the defectors said the front failed to achieve its objectives.

Adam Ali Shoggar, Khamis Abdella Abakr and Ibrahim al-Zubaidi, announced in a joint press statement their withdrawal from the United Resistance Front (URF). They further accused their former partners of working to sabotage their leadership among their own organisations.

They also accused the leadership of the front of breaching the main objective of the front, achieving the total merger of the five groups during a period of six month.

“Some leaders of organizations who have been assigned to lead during the trial period have exploited their responsibility to implement their own agenda.” They said. Also they blamed them for the lack of coordination.

The five rebel groups who agreed to gather in the URF are: Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM) of Khamis Abakr, SLM-Field Leadership led by Adam Bakheit, the Movement for National Reformation and Development (MNRD) led by Jibril Abdel-Karim, the United Revolutionary Front led by Ibrahim al-Zubaidi, and the Justice and Equality Movement (collective leadership) led by Bahar Idriss Abu Garda who is also the chief of the URF.

However Abu Garda said in a statement issued yesterday that the leadership has completed the preparations to hold the general conference of the URF. He also added that it was agreed to delay the date of the convention to September in order to allow large consultations among the members inside and outside the country.

He also said they want to achieve progress with regard to the ongoing dialogues with other rebel movements “to achieve a greater unity.”

Tow delegations of the SLM Unity-Command led by Abdelalla Yahya Ahmed and the URF led by Bahar Idriss Abu Garda agreed on June 1 in the Libyan capital Tripoli to unite their two groups within one month. The signing ceremony of the accord was attended by the Libyan minister for African Affairs, Ali Abdel-Salam Triki.

Joined by telephone yesterday, Ali Shoggar one of the breakaway leaders told Sudan Tribune they want to focus now their efforts in the reunification of the former SLM factions. Adding they intend to meet with the SLM founder Abdel Wahid al-Nur.

Shoggar added that even Jibril Abdel-Karim, the leader of the NRD, a member of the URF but didn’t defect with them, is poised to follow them in their move.

Nonetheless, Abdel-Karim participated in a URF leadership meeting according to a statement signed by Abu Garda.

The signing of Darfur Peace Agreement between the Sudanese government and the SLM led by Minni Minawi has exacerbated inter-rebel violence and diminished chances for stability in the warn-torn region.

The former peace envoys Jan Eliasson and Salim Ahmed Salim had focused their efforts to achieve peace in Darfur in the reunification of the rebel factions. But they were accused by the main rebel movement of dividing rebels.

Khartoum also said they had failed to meet their mission and gather the rebels.

(ST)