Sudan’s states claim success in arms, vehicle collection campaign

The Sudanese states of North Kordofan, North, East, and West Darfur have all claimed a measure of success in the governent campaign to seize illegal vehicles and firearms. Maj. Gen. Ahmed El Deheish, the police chief of North Kordofan has announced the seizure of 236 vehicles without plates, unlicensed, or without customs duties.

He said in a statement to the official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) that the campaigns also resulted in seizing of 209 without plates and unlicensed motorcycles and 78 unlicensed rickshaws.

He explained that 130 of the seized vehicles were handed to the anti-smuggling police in the state, while 106 vehicles were held in the traffic department in El Obeid until the completion of licensing procedures.

South Darfur

The governor of South Darfur, Adam El Faki says that more than 2,000 weapons were voluntary collected from people in the state , indicating the collection campaign is progressing smoothly .

"Arrangements are underway in collaboration with native administrations to move to phase of forcible collection," El Faki said in a statement to SUNA on the sideline of the deliberatory meeting of States Governors which held in the Republican Palace recently.

He said the campaign has yielded positive results that reflected positively o the security situation in the State by lessening frictions between tribes and there was no report to police about violent and armed crimes and that he, explained , stands as clear evident for success of the campaign in its first stage .

East Darfur

The Governor of East Darfur, Anas Omer has underscored that the state government pressing ahead with collection of firearms.

At a state governors’ meeting in Khartoum, Omer told SUNA that most segments of the state community have positively responded to the campaign.

He said that the East Darfur has formed committees at state and local levels and these committees toured localities to stand on participation of the communities in the arms collection campaign.

West Darfur

The governor of West Darfur State, Fadlelmowla El Haja stressed that the firearms collection campaign has positively reflected on stability of security situation prevailing the state, and asserted that the crimes in which weapons are used have been remarkably slashed.

El Haja stressed that the campaign has achieved its goals of maintaining security, stability and securing voluntary return for displaced people.

He disclosed that El Geneina locality alone collected 2,500 firearms within the framework of the firearms collection campaign.

Motives questioned

The motives of the government campaign have been challenged by experts. In an interview with Radio Dabanga in August, Ahmed Hussein Adam, Associate Researcher at the University of London School Of Law, stressed that “the collection of weapons in Darfur comes only within the context of the implementation of Security Council resolution 1556 of 2004 under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which stipulates the disarming and dismantling of janjaweed militias and bringing their leaders to justice”.

He described the current campaign as “scattering of ash on eyes and political fraud that should not mislead the people of Darfur”.

The campaign is expected to lead to a new chapter of conflict and internal fighting between militias in Darfur. He explained that it is a strategy to rid the militias after exhausting their purposes, by igniting internal sedition and fuelling conflict between its social cisterns, Adam predicts.

(Sources: RD / SUNA)