Sudan rebels hand over 20 prisoners of war in Darfur

By Finbarr O’Reilly

DERIBAT, Sudan, Nov 16 (Reuters) – Darfur rebels from the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) handed over 20 prisoners of war to the African Union (AU) on Tuesday in a move the rebels said was in line with peace deals they signed with Khartoum last week.

Sudan Liberation Army rebels move through the desert east of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state November 8, 2004. (Reuters).

About 2,000 villagers cheered and danced at a handover ceremony in Deribat, a dusty village in South Darfur state’s remote Jebel Marra mountains and a rebel stronghold where the 20 government soldiers were held captive for nine months.

The prisoners were flown in two AU helicopters to El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, where they were due to be handed over to the governor on Wednesday.

“We are very happy. We expected to be killed, not released,” said one of the freed men, Abdul Rahman Hamadin, 24.

The release was the first of its kind and offers a rare boost to peace efforts in Darfur, where some 1.5 million people have been driven from their homes by 22 months of fighting between rebels and government forces.

The rebels accuse the government of backing Arab militias known as the Janjaweed, who have conducted a campaign of killing, looting and rape against African villagers in what the United States calls genocide.

The Khartoum government denies any wrongdoing, calling the Janjaweed bandits.

BRINGING PEACE

The arrival of the AU mission tasked with monitoring a fragile ceasefire and agreements signed by rebels and government at Sudan peace talks in Nigeria last week have lifted hopes that Darfur’s violence can be brought under control.

“The protocols signed last week call for all prisoners of war to be released unconditionally, so that is why we are releasing them,” said Abdou Ismail, the SLA representative attached to the AU mission, which negotiated the handover.

“It is a sign of good faith and shows that we want to apply the protocols and bring peace,” he added.

The AU force has only 700 troops in an area the size of France and another 2,300 on the way in coming months. But the mission saw Tuesday’s handover as an important symbolic victory nonetheless.

“There is a time for war and a time for peace and receiving these prisoners is one step towards peace,” French Colonel George Davoine, a European Union representative at the AU mission told the crowd gathered at Deribat.

At least half of the prisoners were captured after losing a battle at Khazan Jadeed in South Darfur state on Feb. 20, when some 110 government troops were killed in a clash with the rebels, the released prisoners said.

The freed men, who wore tattered clothes, said 10 of their officers were executed by a rebel firing squad 13 days after they were captured.

“They tied them with ropes, put them against a wall and shot them before our eyes,” 21-year-old Aiman Adam Majboor said.

The rebels dismissed the accusation.

“No, I don’t think so. If we ask them to show us where this happened, they will not be able to,” the SLA’s Ismail said.

Civil war in Darfur erupted in 2003, when the SLA and the Justice and Equality Movement rose up against the government they said neglected the western region of Africa’s largest country.

The fighting has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, according to the U.N., which says that more than 70,000 people in Darfur have died from violence, hunger and disease since March.