SPLM team aims to reassure Rizeigat in Darfur over referendum

Suliman Isaag, Secretary of the SPLM in South Darfur, said that a committee has been formed to make contact with the Rizeigat Arab nomads regarding the upcoming referendum on the separation of South Sudan. The committee is composed of SPLM officials, Rizeigat leaders and native administrators.The committee aims to inform citizens in the areas of contact with the South of the situation before and after the referendum. Suliman Isaag said that the committee will next week visit the tribes of the contact areas (‘mixing areas,’ or tamazuj) and specifically those areas between South Darfur and the states of North and West Bahr El Ghazal, to enlighten the tribes there on the situation.

Suliman Isaag said that the movement of Rizeigat and Misseriya pastoralists will be open in the south and will not be affected by the referendum, whether for separation or for unity. He was speaking to Radio Dabanga from Nyala.

Also related to the referendum, the SPLM official said that the number of Southerners registering in South Darfur alone reaches more than 100.000, with 10 more centers opened in the state, in Ed Daein, Nyala, Adila and Abu Ajura.