nawi’s “unity” conference was little more than a coup, a grab for power portrayed as a move toward “democratization.”
Mohammadayn was not the first to be killed by Minawi’s men and, unless Minawi puts his house in order, he will not be the last. Tur al-Hadi Mohammad Abdel-Rahman, a notable of the Tunjur tribe, another tribe that has rallied to the SLA, was shot dead in front of a crowd that included his own nephew. One of those who witnessed the execution – a security officer in Minawi’s faction – says there were killings “every sunset” in the weeks he spent in Minawi’s headquarters. Most were accused of being government spies, but some were simply “educated people” – possible rivals to Minawi.
Amnesty International warned last week that Suleiman Marajan, an SLA commander well-known to the international partners attending the Darfur peace talks, has been arrested by Minawi and is “at risk of execution.” The seizure of Marajan, a popular commander who enjoys widespread support in both factions of the SLA, has pushed many of those who were sitting on the fence into open opposition to Minawi. Equally importantly, it has captured the attention of Western governments that were, until relatively recently, not unsupportive of the self-proclaimed “secretary general” of the SLA. Marajan, unlike Mohammadayn and Tur al-Hadi, is not an unknown to the international community. His death, perhaps just his continued imprisonment, will cause much blood to flow in Darfur. It will also guarantee that international sympathy for Minawi, already waning, withers and dies.
(via Sudan Watch)
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