Relatives of Darfurian JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim confirm his death

(Update 14:17) The leader of the Justice and Equality Movement, Khalil Ibrahim (56), has been killed in the area of Wad Benda, North Kordofan on Saturday. The family confirmed his death to Radio Dabanga. Baroud Sandal, spokesman on behalf of the family, said the relatives are gathered today in the house of Ibrahim’s wife in Idd Hussein, Omdurman to mourn his death. He said he received a call from the field confirming that Khalil Ibrahim died yesterday on Saturday afternoon after sustaining fatal injuries. But he said the family did not receive any details. Khalil Ibrahim was a Zaghawa (Kobe) living at the border area of East Chad and West Sudan in Darfur. He is considered an ally of the Islamist leader in Sudan, Hassan al Turabi. Khalil Ibrahim was a physician who obtained a Master’s degree in public health at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands. He held several positions in the government in Darfur and in Khartoum. During the war with South Sudan he was appointed as a governor for the National Islamic Front in South Sudan, but was never sworn in. After Al Turabi was sidelined by President Omar al Bashir, he became involved in several rebel movements.  Attempts to form a united rebel army against the Khartoum government failed. The Zaghawa dominated JEM was never on speaking terms with the main stream SLM led by Abdel Wahid al Nur, who is a Fur leader currently in exile in Uganda. They also had different political opinions on a future state. Khalil Ibrahim never abandoned the Islamist movement, while Abdel Wahid explicitly wanted to establish a secular state. Khalil Ibrahim attacked Omdurman in the Spring of 2008. In the aftermath, thousands of Darfurians have been arrested on the streets of Khartoum, several never returned home and were alledgedly killed due to torture. After Khalil Ibrahim’s arrest in 2010 in Libya, he only could resume his attacks after the fall of Gaddafi in September 2011. The exact location where Ibrahim Khalil was killed on Saturday is still unknown, as the battles took place at several locations including Um Gozen, Armel, Goz Ubyad and Wad Benjda areas of North Kordofan. The Sudanese army spokesman Alsoarma Khaled Saad said that the JEM was killing citizens. The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) were using heavy bombing. The JEM signed an agreement with the SPLM-North and rebel groups to form a Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF), but so far have only agreed on a joint political committee to topple the Khartoum government.