JEM rebels reach out to Arab tribe with release of Zayadiya fighters

The Justice and Equality Movement said that it was on track to release recently captured prisoners of the Zayadiya tribe. The movement said that the Zayadiya tribesmen were captured in fighting at Lwabit on the road between Kuma and El Fasher on Wednesday morning. Promising to release the prisoners, JEM also appealed to the leader of the tribe, intellectuals and tribal elders not to allow their sons to fight the movement in the service of the National Congress in the name of the tribe. Abu Bakr Hamid Nur, JEM Secretary of Administration and Management, told Radio Dabanga that the movement is not targeting the tribes, and instead its fight is directed against the Government of the National Congress to end the marginalization and injustice done to the people of Darfur and all the marginalized Sudanese. Abu Bakr asked the Zayadiya tribe to understand, their battle is not with them, never, but against the National Congress and the Bashir government. Abu Bakr was speaking by phone from the field.The Zayadiya are an Arab tribe, whereas JEM is a cross-tribal rebel movement, consisting of many Zaghawa fighters but also Arabs and other ethnicities. In another interview with Radio Dabanga, family members of the tribesmen captured at Lwabit appealed to JEM to release their brethren. They said that they had been deceived by the government which made false promised to them and left them in the field. The relative said that the captives are the brothers Ahmed Ali Al Tom, Harun Ahmed Ali Al Tom their cousins Juma’a Ahmed and Al Tom Mohamed Ahmed.