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 Re: Splintering of Rebel Groups Adds to Chaos in Darfur (Re: محمد الامين محمد)
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The only group that signed the peace agreement, the SLM faction led by Minni Minnawi, was rewarded with a top government position for Minnawi and other promises of power that have mostly failed to materialize. And here in Gereida, the faction's leaders seem increasingly restless.
"Yes, we signed the agreement, but unfortunately, so far, we've seen nothing," said one of them, Abu Algasim Ahmed Mohammed, a former electronics salesman. "Unfortunately, there is no implementation
Though SLM-Minni is technically part of the government now, Mohammed and others still refer to themselves as rebels, and in recent months, several top commanders have abandoned the group and returned to the field.
Rank-and-file soldiers have also left, according to African Union officials who describe a split along tribal lines, with the Mesalit, who populate the area, unhappy with a leadership dominated by the Zaghawa, who are considered the businessmen of Darfur.
African Union officials have accused rebels associated with SLM-Minni of killing two Nigerian soldiers and stealing their truck in an attack here this month. Mohammed denied that his group was involved.
SLM-Minni has also been blamed for a particularly brutal attack on aid workers in December in which one worker was beaten, others were subjected to mock executions and 12 trucks were stolen.
After the attack, all but one relief group evacuated the area, leaving 120,000 displaced people in Gereida camp -- one of the largest in the world -- without regular rations of food and water for nearly a month.
The situation has improved somewhat since the International Committee of the Red Cross, the only group remaining, has taken over food distribution, water, sanitation and other responsibilities.
But security has sharply deteriorated, as it has all over Darfur.
"A year ago, it was much more simple," said Jessica Barry, a spokeswoman for the Red Cross, referring to the process of negotiating safe passage for aid trucks with rebel commanders. "Now, with the fragmentation of the groups, it's much more complicated, it's making it much harder for people to know they can go into the field safely. It's a very fragile situation."
In Gereida, leaders of SLM-Minni ride around town in a Toyota Hilux pickup with fur on the dashboard and a little bird, a gold fan and cards printed with sayings dangling near the windshield. One recent afternoon, their entourage included baby-faced young men carrying AK-47 assault rifles that were at least half as tall as they were.
"Absolutely, the SLA is in control of Gereida," said Mohammed, sitting in a bare, cement-floored office with two 2006 calendars on the walls. "If you need 10,000 police, I can provide them right now."
Mohammed and other leaders blamed government-funded militias for the December attack but also attempted to diminish its significance.
"They just stole some vehicles," said Mohammed Shwomo Musa, another top commander. "This is normal. Even in America, you have this kind of problem. It's no reason for them to leave just because they had some cars stolen."
Observers note that rebel groups have spawned their own hierarchies and bureaucracies and suggest that their cause has become less about the suffering millions in Darfur than their own survival.
Some rebel leaders have not even set foot in Darfur in years: Nur has been living in Paris. Others are in Germany. Mini Minnawi is in Khartoum, where he is increasingly isolated from his organization.
In addition to its strained relationship with some aid groups, SLM-Minni is seriously at odds with the encampment of African Union soldiers on the edge of town who have remained locked down in the camp since their comrades were killed. African Union Capt. Kris Amadeco Anogo described the relationship with SLM-Minni as "cordial in disguise."
The support the rebels have among their own people also seems to be wavering.
This month, the commanders piled into the Hilux and a Land Cruiser and drove into the sprawling displacement camp that has all but engulfed Gereida. It was hot, and most people were sitting inside their mud-walled, tarp-roofed huts.
Walking past a shut-down medical clinic, Abakar Osman Adowman, 27, said the December attack on aid workers created a state of panic in the camp, as people basically went hungry until the Red Cross took over relief operations. The main problem now, he said, is security.
"The SLM provides some security inside the camp," he said. "But outside, you can't move anyplace."
Women are still routinely assaulted when they venture out to collect firewood, he said. Men are often kidnapped, disappearing for two or three days before returning, beaten and bruised.
As others did, Adowman was quick to blame government militias for such violence.
But when he was asked who carried out the attacks against the aid groups in December, he just looked away. "I don't know," he said.
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محمد الامين محمد
فيس بوك
تويتر
انستقرام
يوتيوب
بنتيريست