Plan to register civilian weapons in Darfur

The Sudanese Minister of Interior, Lt. Col. Esmat Abdelrahman has acknowledged that “the spread of arms in Darfur constitutes a major security concern”.

On Wednesday he told Members of Parliament that there are millions of light weapons in civilian hands in Darfur.

He announced a plan, based on directives from President Al Bashir, to collect heavy weaponry such as four-wheel-drive vehicles and heavy machineguns, and inventory and register any small arms not belonging to the regular forces. These are “to be removed on a later stage in exchange for material compensation or other considerations” that Abdelrahman said would be agreed upon later.