Osmaan Jaafar: ‘I am no militia leader’

Red Crescent Secretary-General hits back at SPLM’s allegations that he is implementing a military campaign in Kadugli

Osman Jaafar, the Secretary-General of the Sudanese Red Crescent, denied on Sunday that he is a Kadugli-based militia leader set out to commit violence against the people of South Kordofan.

Jaafar’s denial comes in the backdrop of an accusation by Qamar Dahlman, spokesperson of Sudan People’s Liberation Movement’s (south division), on Friday that the Red Crescent Secretary-General was leading a militia in Kadugli, capital of South Kordofan.

In an interview with Radio Dabanga, Jaafar stated that he is not based in Kadugli or anywhere in South Kordofan for that matter, but in Khartoum.

Jaafar also declared that the Red Crescent official deployed in South Kordofan has no links with the militia. “He is an employee of the Red Crescent and is known to all in South Kordofan,” Jaafar told Radio Dabanga.

Further, Jaafar denied allegations that he was working for South Kordofan´s governor Ahmed Harun, who is wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. The International Criminal Court for Justice (ICC) in The Hague issued an international arrest warrant against Harun in 2007.

In the last few weeks, there have been reports alleging the Sudanese government of using targeted violence against Nubian civilians of South Kordofan.