Darfur Peace and Development

July 27, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — A Darfur rebel group accused of instigating violence at an Internally Displaced Camp (IDP) denied their responsibility for the shootout and described the account released by United Nations-African Union peacekeepers “as an attempt to conceal their complicity”.

Kalma Camp in Darfur (AFP)

UNAMID has reported gunmen belonging to the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel-Wahid Al-Nur (SLM-Nur) started firing inside the Kalma camp indiscriminately which houses 100,000 IDP’s in South Darfur.

“This is a flat out lie. Our forces would never expose the life of our people by firing in the camp,” Al-Nur told Sudan Tribune.

“These are government elements that infiltrated the camp with the consent and knowledge of the UNAMID people. They are trying to intimidate the people there and pressure them to join the Doha talks under El-Sissi [Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) chairman]” he added.

The SLM leader and some residents at the camp claimed to Sudan Tribune that the sheiks in the camp have been specifically targeted because they rejected joining the talks to represent the IDP’s and that some have sought UNAMID protection.

Al-Nur said that UNAMID is complicit in allowing the government agents to carry out the assault inside the camp.

“UNAMID wants the IDP’s to be part of the talks in Doha so they let this happen. Khartoum on the other hand wants to use this as an excuse to raid the camp on the grounds of insecurity and take it down” the SLM chief added.

The peacekeeping force said in its daily briefing that tensions have been rising in the camp with some IDPs at the camp saying they were not fully represented as part of the of Darfuri civil society in Doha.

But one of the camp residents who identified himself by the name of Eissa said that the IDP’s have no interest in going to Doha without meeting their demands first.

The mission reported that it is now negotiating with Kalma’s leaders to avert an escalation of the violence, while peacekeepers have stepped up their patrols in and around the camp.

(ST)