Sudan’s SPLM-N and ex-Janjaweed leader sign memo of understanding

July 11 2014 (KHARTOUM) – The rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Thursday with the Sudanese Revolutionary Awakening Council (SRAC) led by the former Janjaweed leader Musa Hilal.

Hilal who was one of the main militia leaders that participated in the counterinsurgency campaign during the first years of Darfur crisis, turned recently his militiamen against the governor of North Darfur state, Osman Kibir and accused him of feeding tribal conflicts in the state.

During a meeting held with the Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir on the margins of Um Jaras forum last March, Hilal expressed “his extreme dissatisfaction” from Kibir and insisted on the need to dismiss him in order to end tribal fighting in the state.

The famous Janjaweed leader recently started making statements critical of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP), of which he is a member, and calling for deep reforms.

Earlier this year, Hilal’s militiamen seized control of western localities in North Darfur state including Saraf Omra, Kutum, Kabkabiya, Al-Seraif, and El Waha. The tribal chief announced establishment of administrations in these localities naming his forces the SRAC.

According to the MOU which was received by Sudan Tribune on Friday, the two sides agreed to arrange for a high-level meeting to activate the joint work besides promoting mutual relations at all levels.

Several political forces were being previously harassed by the government for signing similar MOU’s with the SPLM-N.

The MOU was signed by Jagoud Mukuar Murada from the SPLM-N side, and the former MP Ismail Aghbash from the SRAC side.

The two sides agreed to work towards overthrowing the totalitarian regime and establishing the democratic regime, ending civil wars in all parts of the country, and establishing a state which is based on citizenship and equal rights and duties without any sort of discrimination.

The MOU saw that requirements for the “Constitutional National Dialogue” include ending the war, allowing public freedoms, and arranging for a transitional period.

The two sides also expressed support for the reconciliation process among tribes in the country and particularly in Darfur in order to achieve just and comprehensive peace besides ending the “divide and rule” policies which ignited tribal conflicts.

The SPLM-N and the SRAC pointed to the need for mending the social fabric which was destroyed by the regime’s policies besides maintaining unity of the Sudanese people and land on new basis that recognize “the rights of other people to be others”.

They further underscored the need for establishing balanced relations between the center and the peripheries besides promoting institutional and good governance through a comprehensive constitutional process which leads to change.

The two sides agreed that SRAC should continue its “deep and earnest” dialogue with the rebel alliance of the Sudan Revolutionary Forces (SRF) and the opposition alliance of the National Consensus Forces (NCF) in order to achieve national agreement and a common vision leading to the comprehensive peace and full democratic transformation.

In April 2006 the UN Security Council imposed financial and travel ban against Hilal for obstructing peace in Darfur. The then US president George Bush issued an executive order enforcing similar sanctions on them.

In January 2008, the Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir appointed Musa Hilal as a special advisor for the Ministry of Federal Affairs in Sudan. He is also a member of the Sudanese parliament.

(ST)