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The former warlord wants to be a peacemaker. Since June 18, Mohammed Hamdane Dagalo, known as “Hemetti”, has left his headquarters in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, to retire to Darfur. Originally planned for a week, the stay of the number two of the junta in the western province, is prolonged indefinitely.
‘I will not return to Khartoum until the tribal violence ends and stability returns’he said on his arrival in Al-Geneina, the capital of West Darfur where he has now settled.
The stated aim of this unprecedented visit is to seal agreements of “reconciliation” between tribes in the region. Since April 2019 and the fall of the regime of Omar Al-Bashir, prosecuted for genocide in Darfur by the International Criminal Court, the violence has not stopped. Worse, the region is facing an upsurge in conflicts unprecedented for ten years.
Within days, General Dagalo sponsored a series of “pacts of reconciliation” between, on the one hand, chiefs of Arab tribes in particular Rizeigat and, on the other hand, representatives of non-Arab tribes Misseryat Jabal, Massalit, Gimir and Tama. He pledged to pay out of his own pocket compensation for the families of the victims of the armed clashes and damages for the houses burned and the livestock stolen during the latest clashes. He also promised the creation of a special fund to guarantee the return of displaced people to their land so that they can farm.
“Demons on Horseback”
These initiatives were applauded by the representative of the UN mission for the Sudanese transition, Volker Perthes, who visited Al-Geneina on 2 July. “Hemetti wants to demonstrate its influence in the region both to the political and military forces in Sudan and to the international community. He would like to show himself to be indispensable to stability.underlines Shawqi Abdelazim, journalist with the daily Al-Youm Al-Tali.
The return of General “Hemetti” to his stronghold is however controversial. His reputation precedes him. It was here in Darfur that he cut his teeth by taking command of one of the Arab janjawid militias (literally “horse-riding demons”) which assisted the Sudanese army in its operation of repression and ethnic cleansing carried out under Omar Al-Bashir.
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