Darfur rebels react angrily to Khartoum attack on displaced persons camp

August 25, 2008 (WASHINGTON) – Darfur rebel groups expressed outrage at an attack by Sudanese government soldiers and security officers on the largest displaced camp located in South Darfur leaving scores dead and many more injured.

“This is genocide happening before our eyes. The international community must live up to its responsibility and protect the civilians” the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) spokesperson Ahmed Hussein told Sudan Tribune by phone.

“We cannot stand with our hands tied behind our backs while our people are being slaughtered” he said.

The Sudanese authorities justified the raid by claiming to have received reliable intel about weapons smuggled recently into Kalma camp which is at a strategic position because of its proximity to the Nyala airport and railways,

However Hussein dismissed the government’s statements and said that the plan was to disband the camp and remove its inhabitants.

“This is a plan orchestrated at the highest levels of government including Al-Bashir personally.
Al-Bashir had promised last year to make the Darfur displaced go home before the UNAMID forces arrive in Darfur” Hussein said.

“This is a very sad day for all of us” he added.

Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) leader Abdel Wahid Al-Nur said he condemns the attack “in the strongest possible terms”.

Al-Nur accused the UNAMID forces of “failing to fulfill their duties to protect the Darfuri people”.

The SLM chief echoed Hussein’s remarks and said that Khartoum is deliberately targeting Darfur displaced population.

“These people fled the killings to these camps for safety after they lost everything. The government’s final solution is to kill them right where they are at” he said.

“The genocide campaign by Khartoum continues” Al-Nur stressed.

Today’s attack comes more than a month after the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo announced in mid-July that he requested an arrest warrant for Al-Bashir.

Ocampo filed 10 charges: three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder and accused Al-Bashir of masterminding a campaign to get rid of the African tribes in Darfur; Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa.

Most of the Kalma camp residents are from the Fur tribe.

Ahmed Abdel Shafie, a commander in another faction of Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) told AFP that Khartoum wants to disband IDP camps near main towns to push the conflict under the carpet after the ICC move.

The incident may turn into a public relations nightmare for the Sudanese government which has been trying to demonstrate to the world its seriousness in pursuing peace in Darfur in order to counter the ICC move.

UN experts estimate some 300,000 people have died and 2.5 million driven from their homes. Sudan blames the Western media for exaggerating the conflict and puts the death toll at 10,000.

(ST)