LJM figure defects, recants Darfur peace deal
January 5, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – Ahmed Abdel Shafi, deputy chairman of the former Darfur rebel Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM), has broke away from the group which signed a peace agreement with the government, saying he realized Khartoum is not serious about implementing the deal.
He later toured Darfur states with LJM delegates, preaching peace with Khartoum and an end to the conflict that ravaged Sudan’s western region and led to the death of more than 300,000 people and displacement of 2,7 million since its eruption in 2003.
Speaking to Sudan Tribune from Washgiton, Abdel Shafi announced his defection and explained how he arrived at the conclusion that the Sudanese government is not serious about Darfur and that overthrowing it is the only resolver of the country’s problem.
Abdel Shafi said the fact that the Sudanese government had decided to start armed conflicts in the country’s border regions of South Kordofan and Blue Nile states “obliged him to reconsider the peace process and choose between taking the side of the Sudanese people or that of the ruling regime.”
He further said that he saw the Doha agreement as an opportunity to reconstruct the Sudanese state on new basis but regretted that he discovered he was wrong after seeing “the racial cleansing” taking place in South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
The conflict in Sudan’s border states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile erupted last year in June and August respectively between government forces and rebel fighters of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLMN).
SPLMN rebels fought as part of the southern guerrilla group-turned-official army of South Sudan against the central government in Khartoum before the south seceded in July last year.
However, arrangements to disarm and integrate them into the Sudanese army under a 2005 peace deal between Sudan and South Sudan failed to materialize, leading eventually to the outbreak of the war.
Abdel Shafi said he was also forced to reconsider the Doha Agreement so the regime in Khartoum does not use it in dividing political forces and consolidating its grip on power.
He further said that the only reason why the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in Khartoum signed the Doha agreement is to prepare for another war to debilitate the Sudanese people in South Kordofan, Blue Nile and Darfur.
“We have realized that the LJM, despite the good-intentions of its leadership, is unable to achieve the goals that would create any positive transformation in the reality of Sudan in general or that of Darfur in particular,” he declared.
LJM is the only rebel group that signed the Doha Agreement which was rejected by other groups, including the Justice and Equality Movement as well as other factions of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A).
Abdel Shafi arrived in Washington in November last year to participate in a workshop on Darfur but he did not return to Khartoum afterward. He initially said that he lagged behind due to family reasons but sources close to LJM revealed to Sudan Tribune at the time that he would not return to Khartoum.
Abdel Shafi appealed to the Sudanese people to unite behind the goal of a popular uprising and support the peaceful and armed resistance to Khartoum government.
(ST)