Darfur armed movements renounce neutrality in Sudan war

The Sudan Liberation Movement under leadership of Minni Arko Minawi (SLM-MM), and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) led by Jibril Ibrahim, have announced their renunciation of the neutrality pledged in the October 2020 Juba Peace Agreement, and their preparedness “to participate in military operations on all fronts without hesitation”.

The SLM-MM and the JEM say they will abandon the neutrality pledged as part of the Juba Peace Agreement, and enter the fray in support of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), who have been fighting a civil war against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since mid-April.

After meeting with leaders of European countries and organisations, ambassadors, and decision-makers, Minni Minawi, head of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-MM) and governor of the Darfur region, told a news conference in Port Sudan yesterday that 50 members of the Darfur Joint Protection Force of the armed rebel movements in Darfur have been killed while securing convoys, markets, banks, and roads.

Minawi said he realised the importance of abandoning neutrality after having been confirmed that “the goal of the war is to divide Sudan”.

He reiterated his condemnation of the cold-blooded assassination of the governor of West Darfur, the mutilation of his body, and the killing and rape of people in Central Darfur camps.

The rebel leader referred to the systematic killing in the captured towns of Zalingei, El Geneina, Kutum, and Tawila, in a manner he described as “selective” and accused the RSF of “liquidating community activists and leaders and supplying weapons to the parties to the civil wars in South Darfur”.

‘Foreign agenda’

JEM leader Jibril Ibrahim told the press conference that his organisation “took a position of neutrality at the beginning of the war in order to mediate”, however he accused the RSF of “seeking to fragment and divide the country in partnership with foreign militias and mercenaries,” accusing them of “implementing a foreign agenda”.

The abandonment of neutrality by the rebel movements is “a position long awaited by the Sudanese people,” he said. “We took the principle of neutrality in order to mediate,” he said at the press conference. “We also needed to catch our breath before returning to fight again.

“We are not neutral in human rights, the killing of civilians and the violation of symptoms, what happened in Sudan cannot be watched,” he said.

He stressed their commitment to defending the unity of Sudan.

The rebel movements also accused Chad of supporting the RSF, and “supplying it with military equipment and mercenaries by opening its territory and airspace.” Ibrahim further accused other countries in the region, which he did not name, of supporting the RSF.

No agreement with RSF

Jibril Ibrahim flatly denied claims yesterday by RSF Second-in-Command Abdelrahim Dagalo that an agreement has been made with the RSF to create any joint force to secure Darfur. He described Dagalo’s statement published by the RSF on their electronic platforms as “confusion”.

“We cannot agree with those having with blood on their hands, and are accused of violating human rights,” he said.

“The war has harmed the people of Sudan,” he said. “It is necessary to work together to stop the war, and seek a peaceful solution through well-known platforms.”