Darfur’s Rizeigat and Misseriya tribes sign peace deal

Two feuding tribes in Darfur have agreed to reconcile and have promised to hold accountable members of the Border Guards who had gotten involved in the clashes between the tribes. Delegations of the Misseriya and Rizeigat yesterday signed the reconciliation deal in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur.The agreement provides for the cessation of hostilities and the return of people displaced by the feuding. In order to end the state of tension, the two tribes will exchange compensation and blood money amounting to 7.400.000 pounds, according to Abdullah Khamis, president of the committee on the reconciliation between the two tribes and the Minister Education in West Darfur. He said that the committee will travel to villages and ensure implementation of the agreement between the different parties. For his part, Izedeen Aissa Al Mandeel, member of the Misseriya delegation, said that the agreement provides for the prosecution of those Border Guards who were involved, and requires Border Guards to withdraw from certain areas. He told Radio Dabanga that a force of security police and the army went to the areas where incidents occurred in order to establish security.

Despite the deal, the UN peacekeepers in Darfur today said they received reports of clashes between the Rizeigat and Misseriya on 22 June in the villages of Bugulay and Tereij, about 28 km southeast of Zalingei, West Darfur. Although the number of casualties has not yet been confirmed, 20 persons are reportedly killed and more than 25 injured.

Photo: The opening ceremony of a Rizeigat-Misseriya peace conference on 3 June 2010 (UNAMID – Olivier Chassot).