South Darfur committee to negotiate between Birgid, Rizeigat

The governor of South Darfur on Monday ordered the formation of a committee tasked with the reconciliation of the Birgid and Rizeigat tribes in El Wehda locality.

The governor, Maj. Gen. Adam Mahmoud Jarelnabi, appointed El Tom El Hadi Dabaka, chief of the Beni Halba tribe as chairman of the committee. He will be leading the negotiations between the warring Birgid and Rizeigat Abbala tribes in the area of Manawashi and Hamada, east of South Darfur’s capital of Nyala.

Jarelnabi told reporters in Nyala on Monday that by ending “the bloody conflict in the area”, South Darfur state will be able to continue the implementation of the voluntary return programmes for the displaced, and provide agricultural services to the returnees.

Tensions have been looming between the two tribes since 2005, owing to land disputes. In November last year, 15 sheikhs, imams, and Koran scholars, were killed, and 11 others were injured in an ambush near Manawashi. They were on their way back from Hamada, where a ceremony had taken place to celebrate the return of a number of displaced to the village. Last February, clashes erupted again in the area.

Residents of El Wehda locality told Radio Dabanga that the attacks took place to prevent the people to return to their places of origin.