Unamid head urges South Darfur tribal leaders to resolve conflicts peacefully

The AU-UN Joint Special Representative (JSR) for Darfur, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, has urged tribal leaders in South Darfur to resolve their conflicts through dialogue, negotiations and other peaceful means and to guard against repeating the same patterns that have caused so much suffering in the region.  On 19 November, the JSR addressed about 200 tribal leaders from South Darfur who participated in a two-day conference in Nyala to discuss the root causes of tribal conflict, map them, and recommend possible solutions for sustainable peaceful coexistence in the region.  “After 10 years of conflict and much suffering, it must be clear to everyone that there can be no viable military solution to the conflict in Darfur,” Ibn Chambas stated during the opening session of the conference, sponsored by Unamid. The Head of Unamid regretted the deterioration of the security situation across Darfur in the last few months. “Conflicts erupted between tribes that had coexisted peacefully for hundreds of years. What is even more worrying has been the intensity of these conflicts and the excessively high number of casualties.” He also expressed his concern about the tribal violence that affected the civilian population and contributed to an increase of displaced persons in various camps around Darfur. File photo:  Attendants of the Conference to Address Root Causes of Tribal Conflicts in Darfur and Possible Solutions for Sustainable Peaceful Coexistence, organized by the Unamid Civil Affairs Section in Crimson Lights Restaurant in El Fasher, North Darfur (Albert González Farran/Unamid)  Related: Central Darfur Governor announces measures to avoid new inter-tribal clashes (18 November 2013)Dozens slain in renewed Misseriya-Salamat clashes in Central Darfur (14 November 2013)