Hilal mediators abducted in Sudan capital

The head of the Popular Court of Mesteriya, Omda Hasoun Mangali, was kidnapped by unknown parties in front of a house at El Muhandiseen in Omdurman, adjacent to the capital of Khartoum on Wednesday.

The kidnapping included a number of members of the private committee which was accompanying him in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. Mangali was in Khartoum to pursue civil mediation between the Sudanese government and Darfur leader Musa Hilal, former janjaweed leader and chairman of the Revolutionary Awakening Council, who was arrested in North Darfur in November last year.

Witnesses said that on Wednesday, a force raided Mangali’s the residence at El Zubair Street in El Muhandiseen and took him and his companions. It is not known where they are being held.

Warnings

The sources said that the omda had received prior threats warning him to stay away from Musa Hilal's case and that his son had already been kidnapped from Siraj station in Omdurman.

The relatives of the omda have appealed to Khartoum government to take immediate action to clamp-down on the insecurity that has begun to appear in Khartoum.

In November 2017, Hilal was arrested during an ambush in the Mesteriya area, along with his sons, brothers, and entourage, by elements of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia and was subsequently transferred to Khartoum. Hilal refused to cooperate with the government’s campaign of disarmament and arms collection.