Dabajo in Khartoum next week after his election as leader of ex-rebel group
June 25, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – A Darfur former rebel faction has chosen its general commander Bakheit Abdallah Abdel-Karim (Dabajo) to replace its late leader Mohamed Bashar and announced son arrival to Khartoum within ten days.
The Justice and Equality Movement-Sudan (JEM-Sudan) faction signed a peace agreement with the Sudanese government on 6 April but its president Mohamed Bashar was killed near the common border between Chad and Sudan on 12 May.
The group accused JEM mainstream group led by Gibril Ibrahim of killing its leader, saying it aimed to prevent them from implementing the agreement they inked with Khartoum, and also to dissuade other rebel groups from joining the peace process.
However, after Bashar death, the group designated Dabajo as acting leader and said that a new leader will be elected within two months. It also renewed its commitment to the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) and the agreement signed with the government.
On Tuesday the group announced that Dajabo has been officially and unanimously chosen as new chairman of the group and disclosed his arrival to Khartoum within ten days.
“The general conference today (Tuesday) by an unanimous vote elected Dabajo as new leader of the movement”, said the presidential adviser Osman Nahar who was speaking with Sudan Tribune from undisclosed place in North Darfur via a satellite telephone.
He further said that the advance delegation will reach Khartoum within a week, maximum, to prepare Dabajo’s arrival.
He stressed that the conference, which was attended by all the military and political leadership as well as local and tribal leaders, condemned Darfur rebel groups “for spreading terror among civilians” and reiterated its commitment to prosecute those who killed the movement’s leaders.
The 6 April peace deal is the second to be signed under the DDPD after the Liberation and Justice Movement led by Tijani El-Sissi who signed the first accord on 14 July 2011.
Dabajo, who joined JEM in April 2009, was a former rebel commander in the Sudan Liberation Movement of Minni Minnawi who signed a peace agreement with Khartoum in May 2006.
He led the dissident commanders after his relieve from his position as JEM general commander by Gibril Ibrahim on 9 August 2012. The dissidence was officialized in September of the same year before to elect Bashar leader of the group.
(ST)