Sudan Liberation Movement discusses peace in Darfur

The Commander-in-Chief of the Sudan Liberation Army, Lt Gen Juma Hagar, met yesterday evening with the Minister of Defence, Maj Gen Yasin Ibrahim, and the Chief of Staff, Lt Gen Mohamed El Hussein, to discuss the Juba Peace Agreement in Darfur.

The meeting discussed the efforts made to implement the security file for peacekeeping in Darfur according to the Juba Peace Agreement, especially the file on joint armed forces.

These forces, "according to what is stated in the Juba Peace Agreement, are composed of the armed forces, the police, and the forces of the movements that have signed the peace agreement."

The Commander in Chief was accompanied by a number of SLM officers, including Commander of Administration, Maj Gen Ibrahim El Tom, and the guest of the Commander of Intelligence, Brig Haroun Saleh.

The government and most armed movements in Sudan signed the Juba Peace Agreement on October 3, with a large regional, international and local presence. All armed movements in Sudan are involved in the peace agreement, except Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North led by Abdulaziz El Hilu (SPLM-N El Hilu) in South Kordofan and parts of Blue Nile state and the mainstream Sudan Liberation Movement under the leadership of Abdelwahid El Nur (SLM-AW) in Darfur.

In January, a joint security force, consisting of Central Reserve Police, Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and Rapid Support Forces (RSF), was deployed in West Darfur to protect people from violence, after 162 people were killed, about 215 people were injured, and roughly 90,000 were forced to flee from the El Geneina massacre in January. At the start of this month, the RSF 'Peace Shield Forces' were deployed in certain localities in North and South Darfur to deal with the lack of security.

At the end of last year, the governor of Central Darfur warned of an increase in violence now that the UNAMID mission is withdrawing from the region. Protests against the insecurity and violence, and against the UNAMID exit, have taken place across Darfur in the past few months.