Fellata, Salamat discuss peace pact violations in South Darfur

The peace conference between the Fellata and Salamat tribes is expected to conclude soon after reaching a comprehensive peace agreement. The conference follows deadly clashes between the tribes in South Darfur’s Buram locality in February.

A native administration leader of the Fellata, Yousif El Samani, told Radio Dabanga yesterday that the meeting will end on Monday or Tuesday, as soon as the discussion of violations of the tribes’ peace agreement of September 2015 has been completed.

The delegation of the Fellata tribe and the Salamat arrived in Kass on Saturday to negotiate on coexistence between the feuding tribes and reconciliation. There is an amicable atmosphere, El Samani said.

“The Fellata delegation demanded the release of the detained tribesmen and the re-appointment of the three previously dismissed Omdas,” he said. 84 Fellata and Salamat tribesmen and Omdas were detained for their suspected provoking of the tribal clashes in Nadhif area in Buram on 14 February. 41 of them were released before 1 April.

The fierce clashes between militant tribesmen in Nadhif claimed 25 dead and wounded, according to the state. A cattle theft southwest of Gireida reportedly caused the tensions.

'The meeting is not to be considered a new reconciliation conference.'

In Kass, both parties summarised the violations of the peace agreement and the losses that resulted from them on their respective sides, to the arbitration at the conference. The arbitration consists of Shartai Ibrahim Abdallah and a group of native administration leaders, while the government’s side is represented by the Ministers of Local Governance at Darfur state levels.

“The meeting between the tribes is not considered to be a new reconciliation conference,” Salamat native administration leader Mohamed Bashir Musa Abdelmalik said. “It is a meeting to review the outstanding issues that could not find enough attention during the previous peace conference in 2015.

“The state government has addressed the occurred violations and will put and end to them,” Abdelmalik said.

Next conference

On 26 May, a three-day Darfur social peace conference will be held in Nyala city, with the participation of more than 800 people, including native administrations, civil society organisations, and nomadic leaders from Darfur.

Yassin Yousif, the chairman of the high preparatory committee for the conference and assistant to the Darfur Regional Authority, told reporters on Sunday that this meeting is expected to discuss three work papers discussing social peace in Darfur and social peace in heavenly religions.

The meeting in Nyala complements the peace conferences organised by the DRA, which were launched through its Office of Justice and Reconciliation in 2014. Meanwhile, the DRA has begun ending its mandate by handing over its assets to the Presidency of the Republic, following the outcome of the administrative referendum on the Darfur region in April.