15-year-old PoW handed to Red Cross in Darfur

The Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) on Monday handed over a minor detainee to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the area of Sharafa, East Jebel Marra. The spokesman for the Sudan Liberation Movement-Minni Minawi (SLM-MM), Adam Saleh, reported that they handed over the captive named Fakhreldin Ahmed Ibrahim (15) to the ICRC on Monday. Saleh stated that the 15-year-old boy was captured during the battle of Sarafaya, 120km west of El Fasher, in June this year.He told Radio Dabanga that the relatives of the minor say that “the Khartoum regime has violated the international humanitarian laws by recruiting minors and sending them to fight in wars. Above this, Ibrahim is an orphan and has the right to be protected by the State, instead of being exposed to the risk of death.” Saleh stressed that the release of Ibrahim was based on the SLM-MM’s commitment to the international humanitarian laws and agreements on the treatment of Prisoners of War. Ceasefire The General Command of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-North (SPLM-N) has announced a unilateral ceasefire in South Kordofan and the Blue Nile state from midnight of the first of October 2013.The SPLM-N movement has declared the ceasefire “in solidarity with the victims of the floods across Sudan and in the regions, especially in areas controlled by the SPLM.” The SPLM-N, in its statement, instructed its members to cooperate with the joint leadership of the SRF in order to “enhance the opportunities for the triumph of the peaceful uprising in Sudan.” File Photo: A boy from El Tawisha village (Hamid Abdulsalam/Unamid)