Intifada is the name of the latest rebel movement in West Darfur. Such movements are multiplying everyday, yet the solution of the issue of Darfur, and the crisis that started there in 2003, is far from reach.
Omar Bekhit, leader of Intifada, says the movement is an offshoot of the Justice and Liberation Movement (JLM).
The JLM is currently party to negotiations with the Sudanese government in Doha and is due to sign a peace deal within two days. Bekhit left the movement together with a number of its leading figures in protest against the deal.
“The agreement does not fulfill any of our demands; it will not stop the war nor install peace in the war-torn zone.”
Bekhit does not like the idea of a unilateral deal. “It will be of no value without the rest of the armed movements and fighters. It also means that the JLM will fight on the side of the government against the rest of the armed groups and Darfur's people."
On his future plans, Bekhit says that Initifada has started talks on unity with the rest of the armed groups, mainly the eight movements who announced their unity in London recently. “We hope that military and political unity of the movements [would encourage] serious talks that could lead to a viable peace deal.”
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