Sudan president seeks tribal help disarm Darfur rebels

KHARTOUM, Aug 12 (AFP) — Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir said he would seek tribal mediation to disarm marauding Janjaweed militias and rebels who have been fighting in the Darfur region, a newspaper reported Thursday.

“Darfur will not be secure unless weapons are collected from all sectors of the society except the regular forces,” Beshir was quoted by the official Al-Anbaa daily as saying.

Beshir urged tribal leaders during a meeting on Wednesday to “play a major role in collecting arms, mending social ties and opening routes for the nomads to ward off frictions between farmers and shepherds.”

Beshir has come under fierce international criticism for failing to rein in the Janjaweed militias, Arab nomadic tribes sometimes used as proxies by the government.

But he has repeatedly tried to put the ball back in the rebels’ court by saying the Janjaweed could be brought under control only if Darfur rebel groups disarmed at the same time.