Darfur SLM denies news of another breakaway group

The Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdelwahid El Nur (SLM-AW) has contradicted news about a peace accord signed by a SLM splinter group in El Fasher on Saturday. Delegations of the Sudanese government and the SLM breakaway group headed by Abulgasim Imam have arrived in the Qatari capital for the signing of a peace agreement on Tuesday.

The group, headed by El Sadig Abdelkarim, nicknamed El Foka, exists of 1,500 former SLM-AW fighters, the Commissioner of Tawila locality told the press in the North Darfur capital after the signing ceremony.

Tawila Commissioner Adam Yagoub who was head of the negotiation team with the rebel group, stated that the SLM-Foka “constitutes a genuine addition to the meaning of development and stability in the state.

“This peace agreement will contribute to the return of the people who fled Jebel Marra to Tawila, Kabkabiya, and other areas north-east of Jebel Marra,” he said.

He emphasised that the 2011 Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) is considered a reference to the agreement, stressing the seriousness of the government in the implementation of all the terms of the agreement, which include security, political and civic axes.

Mohamed El Nayir, spokesperson for the SLM-AW, however ridiculed the announcement by the North Darfur authorities, and called it “a downright and absurd lie.

“With this fake news, they intend to cover up the extensive crimes and abuses against the people in Jebel Marra last year, and in Darfur for more than a decade,” he told Radio Dabanga.

“Foka has never been a leader in the movement. He is just a soldier who decided to join the Khartoum regime. He did this individually. The talk about 1,500 combatants is sheer propaganda.”

Doha

On Tuesday, representatives of the Sudanese government and the SLM-Second Revolution led by Abulgasim El Haj will sign a copy of the DDPD in the presence of Ahmed bin Abdullah Aal Mahmoud, Deputy Prime Minister of Qatar.

Both delegations arrived in Doha on Sunday evening. The government delegation, headed by Mousa Mohamed Ahmed, Assistant to the President, includes Amin Hasan Omar, presidential envoy for Diplomatic Relations and Darfur Negotiations, Majdi Khalafallah, head of the Darfur Peace Office, as well as leaders of Darfur former rebel groups that joined the DDPD, and a number of experts.

The Chad Foreign Minister and the head of the UN-AU peacekeeping Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) will attend the signing ceremony.

The DDPD was first signed on 11 July 2011 by the Sudanese government and the Liberation and Justice Movement, a coalition of 19 breakaway factions of Darfur rebel movements formed the year before. The Justice and Equality Movement faction led by Bakheit Abdelkarim ‘Dabajo’ signed the agreement on 6 April 2013.