Three JEM-Sudan commanders held in El Fasher, North Darfur

Three military commanders of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM)-Sudan were detained in El Fasher, capital of North Darfur, on Monday. On Tuesday, a senior Qatari official visited the military camp near El Fasher, where JEM-Sudan combatants are stationed.

Sudan Jameel, western sector commander of JEM-Sudan, informed Dabanga that the three were seized by a group of fellow commanders, “who are close to JEM-Sudan’s leader Bakhit Abdallah Abdelkarim (known as Dabjo). They then handed them to security officers in El Fasher, where they are now being held.”

He demanded their immediate release.

JEM-Sudan broke away from the mainstream movement in 2012 under the leadership of Mohamed Bashar. A month after the faction had signed the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD), in April 2013, Bashar and his deputy were killed in a clash with fighters of the mainstream JEM. Abdelkarim (Dabjo) took over the command. 

On 25 August last year, the long-awaited integration of the JEM-Sudan combatants into the regular forces was launched in El Fasher. Earlier that year, their leaders had repeatedly accused the Sudanese authorities of intentionally delaying the implementation of the security arrangements, as agreed on in the DDPD.  

Jameel expressed his concerns to Dabanga about what he called the “marginalisation of the former rebel fighters. We are excluded from the more important positions and higher military ranks, which is a violation of the stipulations in the security arrangements protocol.

Progress

On Tuesday, Sami El Jital, Qatari member of the DDPD Ceasefire and Security Arrangements Mechanism, visited the Jadeed El Seil military camp, in the company of the Unamid peacekeepers’ force commander.

He praised the efforts made in this regard, and stressed his country's support of the Darfur peace process. “All the obstacles that hinder the security arrangements process will be removed,” he promised.

Unamid force commander, Lt. Gen, Paul Mella, expressed his appreciation of the progress made with the security arrangements, and stressed Unamid’s commitment to provide the necessary support.

An official of the Security Arrangements Commission at the Darfur Regional Authority said that about 2,000 JEM-Sudan troops are being integrated into the regular forces, “in accordance with the Doha Document”.

Related articles:

Doha Document security arrangements launched in North Darfur (26 August 2014)

JEM-Sudan deadline on security arrangements (30 June 2014)