Leaders of six Darfur tribes sign a reconciliation pact

By MOHAMED OSMAN, Associated Press Writer

NYALA, Sudan, Feb 16, 2005 (AP) — Leaders of six tribes with links to either side of the Darfur conflict signed a reconciliation pact Wednesday, agreeing to cease fire and to waive claims for compensation and bloody money.

At the Kalma camp in western Sudan, tents housing families of three or four are clustered on the desert floor. .

The accord, the first of its kind since the conflict began two years ago this month, commits the leaderships of six South Darfur tribes not to hide fighters associated with either the rebels or the pro-government Janjaweed militia.

“We swear to God that we will not conceal anyone who will seek to terrorize people,” the pact states.

“We declare that we are dropping all claims for blood money or losses because we need each other, and because most of our people have been displaced and we do not possess money,” the pact adds.

The signing ceremony in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, was witnessed by the provincial governor, Al-Haj Atalmannan Idris, and Norway’s Minister of International Cooperation Hilde Frafjord Johnson, who is visiting Sudan.

The Sudanese government, which the United Nations has criticized for failing to stop the Darfur conflict, arranged for journalists to fly from Khartoum for the ceremony.

The authorities said the negotiations for the pact began two months ago, with each tribe represented by 10 elders.

The Darfur conflict has pitted rebels, who come from the region’s ethnically African population, against the government and allied Janjaweed, which draws its members from the region’s Arabs.

The tribes taking part in Wednesday’s ceremony came from either side of the African-Arab divide. In some cases, members of the same tribe are believed to have fought on opposite sides.

The government hopes the accord will quiet South Darfur, the scene of some of the heaviest fighting in the past two months.

In a case singled out by the United Nations mission to Sudan, unidentified militia ransacked the South Darfur village of Hamada in January, killing about 100 people, mainly women and children.

The fighting in Darfur has forced about 2 million people to flee their homes. One of the largest camps for the displaced, Kalma, stands outside Nyala.