Disarmament campaign to be carried out all over Sudan: MP

August 25, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese parliament Friday has called on holdout tribal militias to join the disarmament campaign expecting that crimes will be significantly reduced in Darfur.

The Sudanese authorities have been working since several months to prepare a campaign to collect weapons and ammunitions in a bid to reduce the arsenal of arms in the hands of civilians and restore peace and security in the region.

However, the government is facing many challenges, because of the tribal militias that refuse to hand over their weapons due to the existing inter-communal disputes over water and pasture land and the long-established tribal tradition of cattle rustling.

The campaign is also facing another challenge posed by the tribal chief and former Janjaweed leader Musa Hilal who reject the campaign and threatens to fight the army and its militia of the Rapid Support Forces involved in the disarmament process.

The pro-government Sudan Media Center (SMC) has quoted the head of the parliamentary subcommittee on Defence, Security and Public Order al-Hadi Adam Musa as saying the disarmament campaign would include all Sudanese states.

He said the implementation of the campaign began in Darfur and Kordofan states, pointing to demands to collect illegal arms in the Blue Nile state.

Adam added the collection of weapons sends a strong signal that peace has been achieved in Darfur, saying the campaign has been successful during the past period.

An official source in the South Darfur State Security Commission Sunday admitted that few people have positively responded to the government calls to hand over their arms since the launch of the voluntary weapons collection campaign.

Also, the leader of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Gibril Ibrahim said conditions for Darfur collection of weapons are not met; stressing a successful disarmament campaign could be carried out only after achieving a comprehensive peace in the region.

(ST)