Independence of Darfur rebel commanders threatens peace efforts

BY SUDARSAN RAGHAVAN, Knight Ridder Newspapers

TADIT, Sudan, Dec 3, 2004 (KRT) — When rebel commander Ahmed Abou Degin attacked the nearby town of Tawilla last week, he didn’t consult superior officers. Nor did he speak to the rebel politicians who were trying to hash out a peace deal to end the crisis in Sudan’s Darfur region.

A Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) rebel is seen in the desert west of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, November 8, 2004. (Reuters).

Instead, he listened to the rage he felt when Arab janjaweed militias looted the town in retaliation for an uprising by black African merchants.

“I make the decisions when to attack,” Degin, 36, said. “I took revenge in Tawilla.”

Degin’s revenge is just the most recent example of what the United Nations describes as “a crisis of leadership” within the primary rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA). The situation has become an obstacle to achieving peace in Darfur, a conflict that’s taken an estimated 70,000 lives and uprooted 1.6 million.

After months in which Darfur violence was blamed primarily on the government and its janjaweed militia, rebel forces now appear to be launching many of the disputed attacks. Black African rebels have stolen camels from Arab tribes, kidnapped civilians and attacked police stations – as Degin’s men did at Tawilla.

U.N. officials say they’re noticing splits within the rebel movement. There appears to be little coordination between the military forces in Darfur and the rebel political wing that’s negotiating peace. Dozens of local commanders now control their own territories.

“The world might soon find Darfur ruled by warlords,” warned Jan Pronk, the top U.N. envoy in Sudan.

Abdou Abdallah Ismail, the senior SLA representative to the African Union, insists the SLA “has full control over its commanders.”

He said Degin, who reports to him, was within his authority to attack Tawilla.

“After he took his actions, he informed us,” Ismail said. “When I heard, I ordered him to leave Tawilla, and he left.”

Degin’s attack – led by 10 vehicles of men that left two dozen policemen dead – triggered more retribution. Government planes bombed Tawilla, then two days later bombed Tadit, two miles from Degin’s military base.

On Wednesday, journalists encountered Degin when he met up with an African Union fact-finding team at this devastated town, 25 miles south of the northern Darfur administrative center of El Fasher.

Ismail was part of the African Union’s entourage, but Degin’s men hardly acknowledged him, although he’s a general in the SLA. Degin, a major, was their hero.

“The next president of Sudan is Ahmed Abou Degin,” quipped one rebel, Bahit Abdallah Bashir. “We trust him. He’s our leader.”

“I’ll listen to him as long as I am alive,” said Ibrahim Hamid Adam, another rebel.

Degin, who has two wives and four sons, was once a policeman in El Fasher.

There, he said, he faced discrimination. The Arab officers never listened to his recommendations and never promoted him. He joined the rebels “because there’s no justice.”

Today, he controls territory that stretches some 200 miles. He talks to his superiors and other commanders by satellite phone, but he rarely sees them.

He apologized for breaking the cease-fire, but he said the Tawilla attack was justified.

“I admit there are mistakes,” said Degin, with a hint of defiance. “But the government makes five times more mistakes. They attack many times. I attack only once.”

The destruction from fighting was evident at Tadit: burnt pots, blackened plates, mangled cups. A crater the size of a Jacuzzi lay in the middle of a watermelon garden.

Maj. Per Erik Widmark, a military observer, rattled off a list of the destruction: 17 houses burned by hot flying shrapnel, seven craters in the village and four more on nearby roads. There were also two unexploded bombs, among 13 dropped, he said.

Four civilians were killed and 17 wounded, he said, citing rebel figures. Eight rebels were also injured, he said.

Ismail was determined to show that the SLA was in control. He used the occasion to surrender to African Union soldiers a confessed thief who said he’d pretended to be a rebel when he and a partner robbed a bus.

“I want to send a message to the international community,” Ismail said. “My guys are not going to act like bandits. We’re a movement. How can we act like thieves and protect people?”

Ismail said he’s ordered Degin not to retaliate for the Tadit bombing because more violence would endanger the cease-fire.

Degin said he plans to obey – but made clear he has his limits.

“If they attack again, then I’ll attack,” he said, his face becoming serious