جبال النوبة...ضمير السودان الغائب..

Quote: Interview with Ismael Khamis Jelab, Governor of Southern Kordofan By Nanne op 't Ende Kadugli, March 13 and Khartum, April 15 Major General Ismael Khamis Jelab fought the Government of Sudan for nearly twenty years as an officer in the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). Now he is Governor of Southern Kordofan State, that embraces the Nuba Mountains where Ismael Khamis originates from. He talks about the challenges he's facing in his new position. Ismael Khamis Jelab speaking at the All Ajang Conference in Werni Can you sketch the road that led to your appointment as Governor of Southern Kordofan? It's a long history, that started even before I joined the SPLA in 1985. I was an officer in the Sudanese Armed Forces when I was arrested for mutiny and making a coupe in Khartum. The situation in Sudan was very complicated and it was a political decision that drove me first to participate in that coupe and then to join the Movement (Sudan People's Liberation Movement). As soon as I was released from prison I went to South Sudan, where I joined the Movement in the area of Aweil. From there I went to Ethiopia for military training and official registration as a member of the SPLM/A and I met our late leader Dr. John Garang in Boma in 1986. Then in 1987 it was the first time we came to the Nuba Mountains, with the Vulcano Battailion. At that time I was leading a company and our mission was to recruit Nuba people for the SPLM/A. The mission was a succes and the same year we returned to Ethiopia with the recruits. After two years we came back to the Nuba Mountains, in 1989. This time we stayed and fought against the Government. I was commanding the Tegali Battalion, which was active in the western area of Dilling and Lagowa, untill I was transferred to Koalib in 1991. Then to Brham in the south and finally I came to the Head Quarters in Changaru as second in command to Yousif Kuwa Mekki. After the Chukudum Convention of 1994 I became commander of the 5th front - the SPLA forces in the Nuba Mountains - and at the same time I was appointed Deputy Governor to Yousif Kuwa. After his death in 2001 I kept the office as Deputy to Abdel Aziz Adam alHilu, right up to the sigining of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, after which I was appointed Governor of Southern Kordofan State. How about the peace in Southern Kordofan? Has the violence actually come to an end? In general the cease fire is well respected by the SPLA and the Sudan Armed Forces. We managed to give security and freedom to the people in the whole state. They are moving and talking freely, without fear of harassment. We improved the human rights record and we are seriously addressing the rights of women and children. These are the positive things done so far. Unfortunately there are still minor violations here and there by individuals from either side. The latest violation took place in Fama, where elements of the SAF killed two soldiers of the SPLA. It happened the second of March. The soldiers were part of a Joint/Integrated Military Unit; they went to visit their relatives in the area and unfortunately they were shot bij SAF elements. We managed to control our forces and our supporters - to keep them from breaking the peace agreement. It is well known who killed the two soldiers and they are now under investigation by a joint team of the UN mission, SPLM and the police. They will be taken to the court. But we know their intention is to provoke us, the SPLM/A, to retaliate in a big way, so they can accuse us of violating the CPA. After the signing of the CPA, and specially since I became Governor, it is a system of trying to change the government in Sudan in general and in Southern Korodofan specially. And you will find those who resist this change. They do whatever they can to take people back to war. These incidents are not random: there is a plan behind this killing of SPLA soldiers. I know it was their intention; they knew them as SPLA soldiers - they themselves gave them the permits to go and visit their relatives and despite that, they were killed. Normally we have the conflicts between nomads and farmers, but this time they try to instigate people to make such problems and then it takes tribal and political dimensions. The violence is provoked by the politicians, specially of the National Congres Party and other groups. And this happens in different areas. The latest incident was in the Werni area - Werni are Nuba - with some Arab nomads. They mobilised Arabs from other places to attack the Werni. They burned houses, schools, two were killed from each side. The most dangerous is the presence of weapons in the hands of the militias and the Popular Defence Forces (PDF) and the civilians. The government armed almost everyone here. The CPA includes a disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) program of the civilians and the military, but this program has not yet been started and it is difficult to disarm the PDF and the civilians when the two parties are not helping or intending to disarm. Does the implimentation of the CPA in general progress well? The protocol of solving the conflict in Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan doesn't address all issues: it has several loopholes and there are so many questions unanswered regarding the Southern Kordofan. We had wanted it to be more like the protocols that address the issue of the South Sudan. When we mandated our late commander, Dr. John Garang, in the All Nuba Conference that was held in Kauda in 2002, our objective was that the Nuba Mountains should have self-determination. Instead the CPA came with something called Popular Consultation - of which we are not even very sure what it means. It states that the elected parliament should see whether this Agreement is okay or not for the people of the Nuba Mountains. This is one - and on the other side there is the issue of the SPLA: in case the South seperates from the North, it is not clear what will happen to the SPLA forces in the Nuba Mountains. In the CPA it is stated that if the South seceeds, all the SPLA forces will go to the South - but according to the same CPA Southern Kordofan is in the North, and not in the South... The next question is: if the South seceeds, where should we belong? As Nuba People, as Southern Kordofan. Shall we go with the South - do we have the right to do it? Shall we remain in the North, are we to have our own entity? These issues are not clear and that gives me the feeling that our future is not clear. It is not settled. We will try to answer these questions, but actually we are aiming higher: to set a solid and strong base for the democratic change of the Government system. And I think we are going well in that way. Even in a united Sudan we should have the right to chose what type of government or system we want.