President Omar Al Bashir to visit Darfur camps

The Sudanese president plans to tour Darfur, and to address the displaced living in the camps about the possibilities concerning their voluntary return.

Preparations for the presidential visit have started and camp leaders are being contacted, as President Omar Al Bashir intends to visit the camps personally, Osman Kibir, Deputy-Chairman of the Shura Council of the ruling National Congress Party, told the press in Khartoum on Saturday.

Al Bashir's upcoming visit to the western region aims to create a conducive climate for the return of the displaced who are still living in camps, Kibir said after a meeting of the Shura Council.

He added that the Sudanese government is committed to provide “all the requirements for the return of the displaced people to their villages”.

Al Bashir not only announced his visit to Darfur at the meeting but also mentioned that the security situation in the Two Areas (Blue Nile and South Kordofan) has improved. He said that peace talks for the Two Areas will resume on February 1, and promised “to redouble efforts to make this round of negotiations final and conducive to a lasting peace”.

The last time Al Bashir intended to visit camps for the displaced in Darfur was September last year. In response to announcements that he would visit South Darfur, camp residents staged mass demonstrations against his coming.

North Darfur

According to the Governor of North Darfur, Abdelwahid Yousef Ibrahim, about 47,000 displaced people have returned from the camps of Abu Shouk, Zamzam and El Salam to their places of origin so far.

On Sunday, the governor briefed members of the National Parliament as well on the arrest of Musa Hilal. Ibrahim said that former janjaweed leader will be brought to a fair trial, but he did not specify the date.

Hilal was detained in November last year, during the disarmament campaign launched by the Sudanese government in Darfur in August.

The Commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemeti), told the press at the time that Hilal was “involved in a plot against Sudan which has external dimensions”.