The Implications of the Libyan Revolution on the Darfuris resident in Libya

By Mahmoud A. Suleiman

September 8, 2011 — The Libyan rebels in the city of Benghazi have disclosed from the outset their prejudice against Africans living and working in the Libyan soil by alleging that they were supporting Colonel Muaamar al- Gaddafi’s battalions/brigades as mercenaries. The Libyan Transitional National Council (TNC) Chairman, Mr. Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, stated that was a decision of individuals and does not represents the rebel’ formal opinion. Nevertheless, that statement is unlikely to change the rebels’ attitudes towards dark-skinned people or those of African origin overnight; given the fact the African Union (AU) has declined to recognize the Libyan revolution and insisted that they will only take down the green flag of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from the roof top of the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa on the surrender of the last soldier belonging to Colonel al-Gaddafi! In the circumstances, many innocent manual working African residents in Libya are going to suffer atrocities. Incitement of hatred orchestrated by the propaganda machine of the Government of Sudan (GoS) against the Sudanese residents in Libya is thought by political observers as the cause of their ongoing tragedy blighting them. Darfuris represent the large proportion of them. This is truer if we take into account the hostile disgraceful attitude of the National Congress Party (NCP) government of Sudan towards the citizens of Sudan from Darfur working in Libya in particular. This hate campaign was spearheaded by the NCP regime’s former leader of the infamous Popular Defence Forces (PDF) and current Minister of foreign affairs, Ali Kerti and stirred up by the top spy leader of the notorious the so-called National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), Mohammed Atta who scrambled to Libya for scrounging the Libyan rebel groups to hunt and eliminate the rest of the Darfuris there. A credible source said that dozens of Sudanese in Libya have been affected by the visit of the Sudanese intelligence security services boss Mohmed Atta to Benghazi and Tripoli few weeks ago and confirmed that many Sudanese who came to Sudan through al-Owainat were killed by militias, government forces and security services who been stationed by the National Congress Party (NCP) regime in those places. The conspiracies and plots of the government of the regime in Khartoum against the people from Darfur did not stop but tremendous efforts were exercised by the elements of the regime to drive a wedge between the Libyan rebels and the chairman of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) who has been almost virtually in a house arrest for over a year in Tripoli. According to Sudan Watch that was since Wednesday the 19th May 2010 when the leader of Darfur’s most powerful rebel movement was denied entry to Chad, on his way back to join his troops in the battlefield in Darfur. He had been detained on an airplane in the Chadian capital N’djamena. The Chairman of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Dr. Khalil Ibrahim, at the time, had travelled from Cairo to Tripoli in Libya where he spent a few hours, then from Libya to Chad. The Chadian security forces destroyed the passports of Khalil and his entire entourage. The Chadian authorities removed the ladder from the plane so that Dr. Khalil could not get out. It was reported that the rebel leader himself told the mass media that the Chadian authorities ordered him to return to Libya after 19 –hour diplomatic standoff at the airport. The Libyan authorities accepted to host the JEM leader on conditions including not making any telephone calls! Observers thought that the Chadian authorities, apparently, were trying to put pressure on the JEM delegation to go back to Qatar where the rebel group had suspended its participation in the Doha Darfur peace talks with the government of Sudan.

Political analysts and independent observers alike categorically refute any material or significant moral support has offered by the Colonel Muaamar al-Gaddafi to the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). When the series of battles and military operations waged by Darfur rebels against the National Congress Party (NCP) regime there is no evidence of a presumption of a direct military support from the Colonel. This is reflected in the type of the weapons used by the rebel group. They are very basic light machine guns which are commercially available in the entire Sudan, and the vehicles used by the rebels are mostly old used-cars and trucks as shown on the TV screens in the media. As regards to the SUV Four-Wheel- Drive vehicles are concerned they are either through funding by the Darfurian businessmen who had sided with the revolution but a large proportion of those cars were seized by the rebels from Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) during the battles as war booty. That is why when asked about their source of funding for the war, the rebels answer: “SAF” which means the Sudanese Ministry of Defence! The clearest evidence against falsehood of funding from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi for the Justice and Equality Movement and the rest of the Darfur movements is the lack of movements of anti-aircraft weapons, which makes it possible for the MiG-29 bombers and Antonov aircrafts to cause destruction of villages and facilities vital to the people of Darfur.

Experts in the Libyan affairs believe that the hospitality extended by the Colonel Muammar Gaddafi by hosting Dr. Khalil Ibrahim is only part of the international and regional conspiracy to limit the role of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), which has become resistant to comply to the orders of others and has been independently taking its decisions.

It needs no proof to stress the fact that there is no military presence for JEM in Libya to fight in the ranks of any of the warring parties in the North African state. JEM believes that what is happening in Libya is an internal affair of the Libyan people. Based on this, JEM is reported to have been in contact with the Libyan rebels and explained the plight of the Sudanese residents in Libya. The rebel leaders acknowledged the dire situation of the Darfuris in particular. They stressed that they would not be carried away by the unfounded information nor make any premature judgements against any parties without listening to the point of view of the other.

Colonel Muammar al- Gaddafi and the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) led by the fugitive ICC indicted criminal Marshal Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir in Sudan had been playing the cat and mouse game against each other though both of them share and adopt Pan-Arabism as a common racial identity and have a lot in common between their oppressive autocratic regimes.

JEM is in a strong determined position and prepared to lead the initiative of regime change in the remaining Sudan to change the genocidal regime in Khartoum. It is widely believed that the national, regional and the international atmosphere is ripe now to witness it happening. In other words, many key regional and international players will be very supportive for such initiative, if we can succeed to create the momentum and impose the de facto situation on the ground. This initiative from JEM is based on the fact that the genocidal regime of the National Congress Party (NCP) is incorrigible depraved beast and morally corrupts entity and has to be deposed by collective force. Once late Dr John Garang Mabior the charismatic leader of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M) was reported to have said ‘this regime is too deformed to be reformed’! Removal of this NCP regime is timely and has become obligatory on all to make way for the people of the remaining Sudan (North Sudan) to enjoy freedom, peace and prosperity in an atmosphere free of racism, religious extremism, Jihadist Takfir obsession, public money corruption and financial misappropriation currently practiced by the obnoxious elements in the disastrous National Congress Party regime.

The president of the NCP regime the ICC indicted fugitive war criminal Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir chose war option for resolving the country’s political problems. The regime he is leading is fundamentally evil and will never change its villainous violations of human rights or committing more heinous atrocities in Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile, as it did before in the then South of Sudan and continuing doing so in Darfur. The Sudanese people shouldn’t expect any protection from the UN which previously failed and let down people in Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur and stood by witnessing genocide taking its toll. The UNSC’s double standards is clearly shown by denying Darfur and South Kordofan (Nuba Mountains) and Blue Nile No-Fly Zone whereas it imposed it in record time on Libya. This attitude of the UNSC is likely to continue for ever as long as the Veto wielding Peoples Republic of China enjoys and shares financial interests with the NCP regime for whom it provides Red Carpet welcome to the ICC indicted war criminal Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir.

In the prevailing circumstances, there is no way for the people of the remaining Sudan, Known as North Sudan, have to depend on their own devices and exert their concerted efforts together to bring the racist band of corrupt criminals of the National Congress Party (NCP) entity down and change the Arabism-Islamism claiming despotic regime once and for all. This can be done by the alliance of the political forces, military might of the rebel groups, The SPLM/N and other resistance movements and democratic forces, loyal and true-hearted members of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF, youth organisations and all the disenfranchised marginalised masses of the Sudanese men and women.

Dr. Mahmoud A. Suleiman is the Deputy Chairman of the General Congress for Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). He can be reached at [email protected]