Sudan’s JEM-Dabajo refuses to take in dissident LJM group
July 23, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – The former rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) faction led by Bakheit Abdallah Dabajo (JEM-Dabajo) has declined a demand to join its ranks by a breakaway group from the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) of Tijani al-Sissi.
On Tuesday, several field commanders defected from LJM and announced joining JEM-Dabajo, saying they were being sidelined since the signing of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) in July 2011.
The leader of the breakaway group, Hussein Sudan Gameel further pointed that the dissident commanders are present in Kabkabiya and Jebel Si areas and their environs in North Darfur state.
A leading member of JEM-Dabajo, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Sudan Tribune on Wednesday that they are not concerned by the announcement of the splinters, stressing that LJM is their partner in the DDPD.
He further said they are ready to mediate to resolve differences among LJM members.
The same official noted that affiliates of other armed groups sensed JEM-Dabajo’s leadership keenness to support its combatants in the field while they were being neglected by their leadership, stressing that 500 combatants from these groups joined his movement during the recent weeks.
He further stressed their top priority is to convince non-signatory movements to join the peace process, pointing that it is “unethical” to take in members of your partners in the peace agreement.
The commission of security arrangements of Darfur Regional Authority, announced that the JEM-Dabajo fighters will arrive in El-Fasher on 10 August to complete the final procedures of the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR).
Following a meeting with Dabajo in El-Fasher on Monday 21 July, DDR commissioner Taj-Elsir Abdel Rahman told reporters that they reviewed the work of the joint committees and the implementation of the administration procedures.
JEM-Dabajo official said that their group is not satisfied with the government slow implementation of the DDPD, but pointed out that some progress has been made in the implementation of the security arrangement item.
The two former rebel groups complain from the delay in the implementation of the peace agreements, particularly the return of the displaced civilians to their areas, the slow establishment of development projects due to the lack of necessary related funds, besides the slow implementation of the security agreements.
The DDPD was signed between the government and the former rebel LJM on 14 July 2011 after more than two years of discussions in Doha. JEM-Dabajo which is a dissident faction of JEM also joined the framework agreement on 6 April 2013.
(ST)