Darfur to crack down on outlaws

The Sudanese Interior Minister has vowed to cut-off the hands of car thieves in Darfur, and to collect weapons from civilians in Sudan's western region. In West Darfur, motorcycle owners face a ban as numerous murders and thefts were conducted by people riding motorcycles.

Interior Minister Esmat Abdelrahman revealed the presence of thousands of stolen vehicles in Darfur in parliament last Sunday. He vowed to implement the ruling of cutting-off the hands of whoever conducted a car theft or smuggled stolen vehicles in the region.

“But it is difficult to identify the number of vehicles there, because it is growing every hour.”

He told the security committee at the parliament that there have been attempts to curb and stop the flow of stolen vehicles into the markets, by rulings that include cutting-off the hands of thieves.

Additionally, the Minister plans to set-up confiscations of weapons and four-wheel-drive vehicles from civilians in Darfur. “This decision will be put into practice soon.

“The insecurity in Darfur is aroused by outlaws who have managed to obtain arms. These should be in the hands of Sudan Armed Forces and other regular forces only,” Abdelrahman said.

Motorcycle ban

In West Darfur, Governor Khalil Abdallah Mohamed issued a decision to ban and confiscate motorcycles on Sunday.

“The series of recent murders and thefts in West Darfur were perpetrated with the use of motorcycles… most of them without license plates,” Governor Mohamed said.

He pointed to the incident in the mosque and residential area of Azerni camp near El Geneina on 22 May, that resulted in the death of 11 people. Armed tribesmen on motorcycles started a shooting in the mosque and camp that evening.

Mohamed reported that the authorities have identified the perpetrators and that a search is under way to arrest them and bring them to trial.

“This was a very cruel attack. The province has seen many similar incidents.”

The Governor accused political and native administration leaders, whom he did not name, of fuelling the conflicts in the area through racial and tribal mobilisation.