The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and indeed the entire people of Darfur who are undergoing the most heinous crime against humanity, genocide, learnt with shock, disbelief and utter surprise the statement credited to president Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria (Current AU chairman and host of the Inter-Sudanese peace talks on Darfur ) in which its purported that the president is objecting sanctions against the Khartoum government and the apprehension and trial of the perpetrators of crimes against humanity(genocide and ethnic cleansing ) by a world or international court or tribunal, and called that the criminals should be ‘judges in their own cause’ in Khartoum, and that the entire episode is a Sudanese and an African affair. That is indeed incredible!!
Such a statement (true or false) coming from a president of Obasanjo’s antecedents, standing and personality, there most be something wrong. Because such a statement can never be in the interest of peace and security of the people of Darfur, or the entire Sudanese including millions of Nigerian origin who are also similarly marginalized and excluded in the scheme of things and prune to such atrocities and crimes by the regime in Khartoum.
If true such a statement is made by him like a previous one in which he claimed that “No genocide or ethnic cleansing is being committed in Darfur” then it is both unfortunate and out rightly rejected.
The movement is perhaps only left with the option of reviewing the trust we reposed in him as a wise statesman worthy of moderating such a conflict and also reviewing relationship with his government, including participation in Abuja talks.
In the circumstances of Darfur and the predicament of its African population, any president in Obasanjo’s shoes and position will be completely impartial at the minimum and work for the principle of “Justice must be done” regardless of how sacred are the cows involved.
The movement and the people of Darfur will fight on until the perpetrators of genocide and ethnic cleansing are squarely brought to justice by an independent, impartial international tribunal.