Janjaweedgate: The Janjaweed leader meets US envoy in Khartoum

By Hisham A. Mageed

KHARTOUM, July 09, 2004 (Sudan Tribune) — On the front page of al-Sahafa newspaper of Thursday, July 8, 2004 we see a picture of Musa Hilal [head of the Janjaweed militia]. The headline reads as follows: “Musa Hilal meets Gallucci and refutes the allegations against Darfur.” Here is a translation of the news report:

NEWS REPORT: Musa Hilal, sheikh of the Mahameed, held an important long meeting yesterday with Gerard Gallucci, US charge d’affaires in Khartoum. Hilal, who is described in Western circles as leader of the Janjaweed, has revealed what took place in his meeting with Gallucci. He said in an interview with al-Sahafa (to be published later on) he had refuted to the American diplomat a lot of the wrong notions and information on the situations in Darfur, indicating that Gallucci had promised to convey this to his government. Sheikh Hilal has explained that he accepted a request from the American diplomat to contribute with the international community and the government in restoring security and stability to the province. Sheikh Hilal has affirmed that he already stands against the Janjaweed and he strives to fight against them so that Darfur would enjoy security, stability and peace. Al-Sahafa has known from her special sources that the meeting, which continued from 3:30 p.m. up to 6:00 p.m., was facilitated by Mubarak al-Fadil, assistant to the president of the republic, at Gallucci’s request.

COMMENT: This is a scandal! Mr. Gallucci should be summoned to Washington immediately and fired from his job. He has disgraced the US diplomacy in Khartoum by accommodating terrorists and war criminals. Musa Hilal is the undisputed leader of the Janjaweed according to several human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch (May 4, 2004) and Amnesty International (June 8, 2004), and, above all, according to the US State Department (State Dept. press briefing, June 25, 2004). Ambassador Gallucci is an employee of that same State Dept.

Hilal is the kingpin of the murderous group whose savagery has created what UN officials described as “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.” Mr. Gallucci hosted the man described by Gallucci’s bosses in Washington as the “Coordinator” of the Janjaweed. By shaking hands with Hilal, Mr. Gallucci’s hand is now soiled with the blood of thousands of Darfurian children. The shameless Mr. Gallucci had an afternoon chat in an air-conditioned room with the “Coordinator” of a group of gang-rapists, whose victims are still wandering about in the sweltering sands of the Darfur desert. This is probably the equivalent of ambassador John Negroponti having a chat with Abu Musab az-Zarqawi in Baghdad, asking for his help to stem the al-Qaida insurgency in Iraq! Actually, this is much worse. Az-Zarqawi and his group pale in comparison as they have not burned, maimed, killed, raped or committed crimes against humanity as much as the Janjaweed led by Hilal.

The man who introduced Musa Hilal to Gerard Gallucci is Mubarak al-Fadil, the epitome of moral bankruptcy and Machiavellianism in Sudanese politics. This is the Ahmed Chalabi of Sudan. In the past he provided the USA with faulty intelligence alleging that al-Shifa Pharmaceutical Factory was a chemical weapons plant, and we know the rest of the story. He kept repeating the chemical weapons allegations in the media even after the American missiles had demolished the Factory. But now this opportunist man and morally bankrupt politician is the assistant of the same chemical-weapons-manufacturing president! Ahmed Chalabi, who fooled the CIA with faulty intelligence on Saddam Hussein’s WMD, had more dignity than his Sudanese counterpart. At least, he did not flip-flop overnight to become an assistant to Saddam. Is there any credibility left for Mubarak al-Fadil? Or is it just the stupid and chronically amnesic US diplomacy that keeps repeating the same blunders over and over again?

The meeting of Mr. Gallucci with the Janjaweed leader is a scandal. Furthermore, it undermines, debunks, and shreds to pieces whatever is left of the Bush administration’s credibility on its so-called war on terror.