ASMARA/KHARTOUM, 17 August 2007 — Former rebels operating in eastern Sudan have transformed into a political party in line with a peace deal signed with Khartoum last year, an ex-rebel leader turned government adviser said in Asmara yesterday. “We have finished creating our constitution and all of us have agreed (to) it, and also approved our structure,” said Amna Dirar, deputy chairwoman of the former Eastern Front rebels.
“Now we can say we are a real political party that can add something to the politics of Sudan.” Implementation of the deal signed last October in Asmara has been slow with reports of rifts and internal wrangling within the Eastern Front. But Amna said that the process — although delayed — was on track.
“We have formed the secretariat, a central and a core committee, and also committees in the three states in eastern Sudan,” Amna told AFP in Asmara, adding that the Eritrea-based leaders are expected to return to Sudan later this month. The Eastern Front was created in 2005 by the Rashidiya Arabs and the region’s largest ethnic group, the Beja. Under the peace deal, Khartoum is to allocate it a total of $600 million over five years for development.
In May, leading members of the Eastern Front were assigned government posts as part of the implementation of the peace accord, including Amna Dirar, who is now an adviser to Sudanese President Omar Bashir. And last month, the rebels wound up relocation to government-run camps, from where they will either return to civilian life or join the Sudanese army or police.
Meanwhile, former Darfur rebels accused Khartoum yesterday of arming and training forces of a tribal militia who have killed 170 civilians in South Darfur in recent days, but the Sudanese army rejected the charge. The Darfur conflict began 4-1/2 years ago in the north of the arid region, but the spread of weapons to other tribes in the south over the past 18 months has increased tensions in these previously safer areas.
The Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) of Minni Arcua Minnawi, the only rebel faction to sign a peace deal last year, said its forces had intervened to stop attacks by the Arab Maaliya tribe and discovered the militia had support from Khartoum.
“We engaged them in battle but it was clear that they had capabilities beyond those of militia,” said the faction’s military spokesman Mohamed Hamid Dirbeen, who had just returned from the area, adding that the SLA had lost eight men. Dirbeen said the Maaliya fighters wore new military uniforms and had heavy artillery and weapons provided by Khartoum. “There is air support, planes and helicopters from the Sudanese Army landing in the militia areas,” he said. “They have armed and supported them,” he added. He said the militia had killed 170 civilians and also stolen cattle.
A Sudanese Army spokesman said the accusations were untrue. “How can we arm militias to fight against civilians? This is not true,” he said. International experts estimate 200,000 have died and 2.5 million have been driven from their homes after mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003 accusing Khartoum of marginalizing the remote region.
Khartoum mobilized militia to quell the revolt and the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for a junior government minister and militia leader accused of conspiring in war crimes.
Dirbeen said Minnawi would continue to abide by the peace deal, but said the African Union, monitoring the shaky Darfur cease-fire, was not capable of investigating the events and urged UN or European Union intervention.
Since the cease-fire, the Darfur insurgents have split into more than a dozen factions. Last month, the UN Security Council authorized a 26,000-strong UN-African Union peacekeeping force for the region.
Adila town, near to the clashes involving the Maaliya tribe, witnessed heavy fighting last week between another rebel faction, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the government last week.
The United Nations said it had reports the hospital in Adila had been looted and was sending medical supplies. “A large number of the population in Adila town had left as a result of the fear of insecurity,” said Maurizio Giuliano, spokesman for the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA).
“Despite this we know the majority have now returned.” The world’s largest aid operation helps some 4.2 million in need in Darfur. But some 500,000 are out of reach because of insecurity and banditry.
