Camp leader assassinated by anti-peace hardliners in South Darfur

An armed group opposed to the peace negotiations with the Government of Sudan on Tuesday assassinated a leader of displaced people (IDPs) at a refugee camp in South Darfur. Sheikh Abdullah Hamad was one of the elders of As Salaam camp near Nyala. The armed group killed him on the grounds that he supported the Doha negotiations and intended to participate with others in the negotiations.Witnesses said that the anti-Doha group pretended to be policemen. Dressed in military uniforms and carrying weapons, they snatched Sheikh of the Camp Abdullah Hamad and then beat him with sticks and gun butts until his last breath.  

Then the assassins began to fire gunshots to warn the displaced persons. Witnesses said that the group has also destroyed a large number of houses in the camp.

The peace process was supposed to have started up again yesterday in Doha, Qatar, between the government and the Liberation and Justice Movement. The negotiations have been postponed. The LJM’s participation has sparked anger from rejectionist rebel factions and their supporters in camps. The worst violence occurred between pro-Doha and anti-Doha factions in Kalma and Hamadiya camps this July and August.