Sudan’s rebels accused of obstructing peace and regional stability
November 20, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s First Vice President, Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, has accused the rebel groups of assassinating rebel leaders who incline to peace while the head of Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) said that rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) was involved in kidnapping the Libyan prime minister, Ali Zeidan, last October.
JEM-Bashar, a breakaway group of JEM led by Gibril Ibrahim, inked a peace agreement negotiated with the Sudanese government on the basis of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) in the Qatari capital on 6 April 2013.
The faction’s leader Mohamed Bashar was killed along with his deputy Arku Dahiya 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.
The Sudanese vice president said that armed groups got used to war as a source for financial support and accused the international community of using double standards, saying that while it fights terrorism it opens its arms to the armed groups which violate international conventions.
He stressed that Darfur crisis wouldn’t have reached this point if it had been dealt with locally, holding rebel leaders responsible for its continuation.
He affirmed that the government thwarted all conspiracies and plans against Sudan through its commitment to peace.
“The government seeks to complete peace in Darfur and its hands are still extended for peace”, he added.
Taha further asserted that African security faces significant challenges and agendas which contributed to creating crisis, demanding firm actions against foreign conspiracies.
Sudanese government officials accuses the international community of encouraging the rebel groups and receiving them.
Sources in Khartoum say the government expressed its dismay for different European capitals for receiving a big delegation of Sudanese rebels.
The director of NISS, Mohamed Atta Al-Mawla, for his part, accused unnamed African countries of supporting Sudanese rebel groups. He further said that those groups commit heinous crimes against innocent civilians, loot properties, and destroy infrastructure, pointing that they hinder development in Sudan and the region.
The head of Sudanese intelligence went to say that JEM is involved in assassination, looting, and kidnapping operations in Libya, describing the armed groups as terrorist groups.
He said the group participated in the two-day kidnapping of Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan who had been kidnapped from a hotel in Tripoli on 10 October..
A former Libyan rebel group said at the time it had “arrested” Zeidan after the government allowed the United States to capture a top al-Qaeda suspect, Abu Anas al-Liby, in Tripoli last weekend.
Zeidan following his release accused an unnamed political party in the congress was behind the abduction, adding that his kidnap “bears the hallmarks of an attempted coup d’etat against legitimacy”.
Atta emphasised that achieving peace through dialogue is a priority for the government, stressing commitment to protecting people and keeping security all over the country.
He pointed to the decision made by International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) in December 2011 in which it designated the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and all factions of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) as “negative forces threatening security of the region”, calling upon the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) to adopt the decision in order to stop harbour and support for the armed group.
The Sudanese security official was alluding to Uganda, which is accused of harbouring and supporting rebel groups.
The workshop recommended to enhance bilateral and regional cooperation on matters related to the armed and rebel groups in Africa.
It also called on the African Union Peace and Security Council to exert more efforts and take the necessary measures to restrict the activities of these groups.
The workshop was attended by representatives of Sudan, South Sudan, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Nigeria, Rwanda, Somalia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Ethiopia, Central African Republic, Kenya, Lesotho, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Tanzania, and representatives of the African Union, the Organization of the Great Lakes States (OGLS), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and Turkey.
(ST)