Darfur’s LJM denies claims of Doha security arrangement delay

The spokesman of a former rebel group from Darfur denied that the security arrangement of the peace treaty it has signed with the Sudanese government is not yet being implemented. Last week, Minister Osman Bushra of the Darfur Regional Authority (DRA), declared that the execution of the deal was delayed because the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) is not able to discern its troops who joined the peace treaty before and after it was signed in 2011. In line with the security arrangement of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD), only rebels who were affiliated to the LJM before it endorsed the deal are entitled to be absorbed into the Sudanese armed forces or to receive vocational trainings. Speaking to Radio Dabanga, LJM spokesman Ahmed Fadul affirmed the movement is “waiting to implement the second phase of the arrangement called assembly stage. It will take place after the completion of the first verification phase, in preparation for the troops’ inclusion in the regular armed forces”. Fadul, who is also minister of state, reiterated that “any talks about the absence of security arrangements or of its implementation outside of the specified mechanism are incorrect”. The spokesman also denied claims by LJM former fighters, who now are part of the ceasefire commission, that their salaries have not been paid in over one year. The purpose of the commission is to investigate the correct amount of troops who were affiliated to LJM before it joined the DDPD.Kauda In a related development, Fadul denied that the DRA Deputy for Military Affairs Yassin Youssef said he cannot implement the security arrangement and told members of the ceasefire commission to “go to Kauda’.   Kauda is referred to the opposition alliance formed by four rebel groups that seek to topple the Khartoum regime, the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF).  This coalition is formally known as the Kauda alliance.Fadul called upon former LJM fighters not to listen to rumors, because the movement’s leadership “is committed to its responsibilities”.   Amid the circumstances, members of the ceasefire commission decided to give Sese and UNAMID -also represented in the committee- two weeks to pay their salaries and to make a decision about the Doha’s security arrangement before they quit.File photo (Albert González Farran/ UNAMID)Related: Darfur signatories threaten to quit Doha treaty if salaries are not paid (1 April 2013)