Sudan’s 2nd VP offers Darfur ‘development in return for security’

Sudan’s Second Vice-President, Hasabo Mohamed Abdelrahman, has warned that regionalism and tribalism in Darfur will not lead to a secure situation.

Addressing a public gathering in the South Darfur capital of Nyala on Wednesday, Abdelrahman called on tribal leaders in Darfur not to protect rebels or militiamen belonging to their tribes or to cover up their crimes.

“Any rebel or offender does not belong to a tribe. They must be subject to the law no matter how powerful they or their tribe are.”

The second vice-president associated development with security, saying: “Give me security and I will provide you with comprehensive development in return”.

Pointing to the situation of the hundreds of thousands of displaced people in the region, he said that the requirements of the displaced can be resolved “on the basis of three possible axes: the repatriation to their villages, the restructuring of the camps, or by integrating them into the towns”.

‘The issue of Darfur is political’

The spokesman for the Darfur displaced and Refugees Association, Hussein Abu Sharati, commented from Kalma camp, near Nyala, that “the issue of Darfur is a political one, and displacement is one of its main consequences”.

He said that the solution for the dire situation of the displaced and refugees lies in the prosecution of the perpetrators of the crimes against humanity in Darfur, the expulsion of the new settlers, the disarmament of the militias, individual and collective compensation for the victims, and the provision of a secure situation in their areas of origin.

Two killed

The reception of the second vice-president in Nyala was marred by a traffic accident in which two secondary school students were killed, and two others were injured.

The students were hit by passenger lorries that transported the audience to the public gathering on Wednesday. Two of them were crushed to death under the wheels.

The authorities usually collect school students and civil servants to cheer at receptions and ceremonies during visits of government officials.