North Darfur Imam released for ransom

20/02/2014 22:33

The 60-year-old Sheikh Abkar Sharif, the Imam of Kala mosque was released on Wednesday after the residents of the area paid a ransom of SDG30,000 ($5,230) to a group of militiamen. A witness recounted to Radio Dabanga that on Monday, Sheikh Sharif was taken from his home in the Kala area north-east of Abata and south-west of Kabkabiya city. “About a dozen gunmen wearing Abu Tira uniforms and driving a Land Cruiser detained the Sheikh after firing heavily into the air. They put him into their land Cruiser before burning his entire house, including its contents of books including volumes of the Koran.” The witness says that the militiamen then demanded that the residents pay the ransom for his release, or he would be killed. File photo: A patch used by Sudan’s Central Reserve Forces (also known as Abu Tira) shows an eagle with spread wings, clutching a red sun, over an Eye of Horus. The Arabic text below the eagle reads, “Central Reserve: The Police in Service of the People.” (Enough Project/Flickr) Related: Four Abu Tira slain; lorry stolen in South Darfur (2 February 2014) Abu Tira and police forces withdraw from South Darfur localities (31 January 2014) Gunmen ‘in Abu Tira uniforms’ terrify displaced in South Darfur (23 January 2013)

The 60-year-old Sheikh Abkar Sharif, the Imam of Kala mosque was released on Wednesday after the residents of the area paid a ransom of SDG30,000 ($5,230) to a group of militiamen.

A witness recounted to Radio Dabanga that on Monday, Sheikh Sharif was taken from his home in the Kala area north-east of Abata and south-west of Kabkabiya city.

“About a dozen gunmen wearing Abu Tira uniforms and driving a Land Cruiser detained the Sheikh after firing heavily into the air. They put him into their land Cruiser before burning his entire house, including its contents of books including volumes of the Koran.”

The witness says that the militiamen then demanded that the residents pay the ransom for his release, or he would be killed.

File photo: A patch used by Sudan’s Central Reserve Forces (also known as Abu Tira) shows an eagle with spread wings, clutching a red sun, over an Eye of Horus. The Arabic text below the eagle reads, “Central Reserve: The Police in Service of the People.” (Enough Project/Flickr)

Related:

Four Abu Tira slain; lorry stolen in South Darfur (2 February 2014)

Abu Tira and police forces withdraw from South Darfur localities (31 January 2014)

Gunmen ‘in Abu Tira uniforms’ terrify displaced in South Darfur (23 January 2013)