Janjaweed Leader Issues Warning To North Darfur Governor

September 7, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – The leader of the Darfurian Arab Mahameed clan and advisor at the Sudan Federal Government Chambers (SFGC), Musa Hilal, fiercely attacked senior government officials and in particular the governor of North Darfur state Osman Mohamed Youssef Kibir.

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Sudanese President Omer Hassan al-Bashir (L) talks to tribal leader Musa Hilal during the wedding ceremony between Hilal’s daughter and Chad President Idriss Deby in Khartoum January 20, 2012 (REUTERS/ Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)

Hilal, in an unverified 50-minute audio recording attributed to him, launched an unprecedented attack on Kibir threatening to assassinate him if he dared to visit areas under his control in Saraf Amra, Kabkabiya, and Kutum.

The tribal chief, who is believed to be one of the Janjaweed leaders who have unleashed terror in Darfur, claimed that Kibir uses magicians to control his subjects and kill his enemies and steal their money and said that he keeps them at his home, mentioning that he recently brought several of them from Senegal.

He accused Kibir of investing in “killing” and triggering the tribal clashes between the Beni Hussein and Rezeigat, mentioning a meeting he held with Beni Hussein affiliates in Khartoum and Gezira states.

Inter-tribal clashes erupted last January between members of the rival Arab Northern Rezeigat (Aballa) and Beni Hussein tribes, fighting for control of the region’s gold mines and claimed 839 lives and injured thousands others.

The UN estimates that some 150,000 people have been displaced following a spate of attacks by armed Aballa militias, elements of which include the notorious Janjaweed forces, which hit the headlines 10 years ago for brutal atrocities allegedly committed at the behest of the Sudanese government.

Hilal further described kibir as a “thief”, saying that he sided with his tribesmen and filled all government posts with members of his Berti tribe under the pretext that they are the only educated people in the region.

He said that Kibir has marginalized their areas extending from Kutum to Mallit for ten years and pointed that he has not built even one classroom. Hilal also alleged that Kibir has stolen billions of pounds from the money allocated for the voluntary return and reconstruction projects in Darfur.

Hilal stands accused by many human rights groups of leading a terror campaign against the African tribes Sudan’s western region of Darfur.

He has denied any wrongdoing and told Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a videotaped interview in 2005, that he only recruited militias on behalf of Sudan’s central government.

The Darfur conflict began in 2003 when an ethnic minority rose up against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum, which then was accused of enlisting the Janjaweed militia group to help crush the rebellion.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) imposed travel and financial sanctions on Hilal and three other individuals in April 2006. However, unlike other individuals including Sudan’s president he is not wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).