Sudan's Army Announces Killing of Darfur's Rebel Leader, Khalil Ibrahim

KHARTOUM, Dec. 25, 2011 (Xinhua) --

The Sudanese army announced Sunday that the head of the main rebel group in the restive western region of Darfur had been killed.

Khalil Ibrahim, leader of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), "was killed today morning at the Wad Banda area in the North Kordofan State," the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) said in a statement without elaboration.

The JEM, which is considered the most powerful rebel group in Darfur, said Thursday that their fighters had reached Kordofan region on their way to the Sudanese capital in order to topple the government.

The SAF on Friday confirmed attacks by JEM fighters in North Kordofan's Um Qozain, Qoz Abyad and Armal areas, not far from North Darfur, where the rebels are based.

SAF spokesman Al-Sawarmi Khalid Sa'ad accused the rebels of targeting the inhabitants of the three locations.

The JEM, which participated in the Doha process to end the Darfur conflict, has refused to sign a peace agreement with the government. Last November, it forged an alliance with two other factions to overthrow the government.

Ibrahim returned to Darfur last September from Libya, where he had lived a long time before Muammar Gaddafi was toppled. The Sudanese government had accused the Gaddafi regime of supporting the JEM, providing arms to the rebel group and hosting and training its members.

In May 2008, the JEM launched an attack on Khartoum, which was the only rebel attack on the capital since the conflict erupted in Darfur in 2003, but was quickly repulsed by government forces.

The killing of rebel JEM leader might not stabilize Darfur

KHARTOUM, Dec. 25, 2011 (Xinhua) --

With the announcement of the killing of Darfur rebel group Justice and Equality Movement's (JEM) leader Khalil Ibrahim on Sunday, the region enters a new phase, but analysts wonder if the incident would be a factor of stability or trigger further tension.

The Sudanese army announced Sunday that the head of the main rebel group in the restive western region of Darfur had been killed.

"The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have managed, in a heroic operation, to eliminate the rebel Khalil Ibrahim, who was killed with a group of his commanders accompanying him at Wad Banda area in North Kordofan," the SAF said in a statement, a copy of which was obtained by Xinhua.

The operation started after a long follow-up which ended with surrounding the remnants of rebels who launched aggressions on the borderline separating North and South Kordofan States.

The JEM forces were on their way to South Sudan to reorganize their ranks when government forces "blocked their way," the statement said.

The announcement comes at a time when the rebel group declared it was planning to launch wide attacks until it reaches the capital Khartoum to repeat its attack against Omdurman in May 2008.

Viewpoints of the Sudanese political analysts varied regarding the consequences of Ibrahim's death and its effects on the region, as the JEM is considered the most powerful rebel group in Darfur.

Dr. Rabie Abdul-Atti, a leading member of Sudan's ruling National Congress Party (NCP), told Xinhua that the announcement of Ibrahim's death "will be the beginning of the end of rebel movements in Darfur," which indicates "peace and security in the region that has witnessed a long-standing civil war."

"The power of rebel movements is measured by their leaders, therefore the killing of Khalil Ibrahim will lead to the deterioration of rebel movements in the region generally," he added.

Abdul-Atti explained that "the killing of Khalil Ibrahim took place in an attack at Wad Banda area, which reflects the status of the JEM and its leader who has been isolated after being expelled from Chad, as well as after the deterioration of situation in Libya."

Dr. Ismail Al-Haj Mussa, head of the Legislation and Justice Committee at the Sudanese National Assembly (parliament) told Xinhua that now that Ibrahim is dead, the rebel group "lost its ' sole arm' who has kept exercising dictatorship against his movement, which caused many of the group's leaders to turn against him."

"The death of Khalil Ibrahim will greatly impact the activities of the movement in the region as the movement does not have fixed areas, which will help end the rebellion in Darfur," he said. " Additionally, Khalil is also one of a few leaders who have military weight in the region. With his death, pressures will accumulate over the movement and eventually result in peace."

However, retired Brig. Hassan Bayoumy, a Sudanese military expert, saw Ibrahim's death from a different light and described it as a "new epoch" that would bring the Darfur crisis to the forefront again.

"It may instigate international public opinion against Sudan, after Western pressures lessened in the past period," Bayoumy told Xinhua.

He did not exclude the possibility that the killing of JEM leader could lead to an escalation of conflict in Darfur again, pointing out that "the Zaghawa tribe, to which Khalil Ibrahim belongs, is an influential tribe extending in three countries including Sudan, Chad and Libya."

"The tribe will definitely unite after the killing of Khalil, and it will firmly stand behind other leaders including Minni Arko Minnawi and Commander Suleiman Sandal. The movement's second-rank commanders are influential, too. Therefore, I expect that conflicts will flare up in Darfur again," he said.

Bayoumy further cited JEM's military capabilities and its ability to continue fighting against the central government in Khartoum, as the group "has attained advanced military equipment from Libya."

Over the past two days, Darfur rebels attacked many areas in North Kordofan, leaving a number of civilians dead. The armed groups also looted some markets and held a number of youths who were working at the gold exploration areas.

The JEM, which is considered the most powerful rebel group in Darfur, announced Saturday that their fighters had moved eastwards and reached near Al-Nuhood area in North Kordofan region in an attempt to reach the Sudanese capital and topple the government.

The SAF on Friday confirmed attacks by JEM rebels in North Kordofan's Um Qozain, Qoz Abyad and Armal areas, not far from North Darfur, where the rebels are based.

In May 2008, the JEM launched a raid against Khartoum, which was the only rebel attack on the capital since the conflict erupted in Darfur in 2003, but was quickly repulsed by government forces.

Editor: Tang Danlu

Profile: Rebel group leader Khalil Ibrahim in Darfur region

KHARTOUM, Dec. 25, 2011 (Xinhua) --

The Sudanese army announced Sunday that Khalil Ibrahim, founder and leader of the rebel group Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in the restive western region of Darfur, had been killed at Wad Banda area in North Kordofan State.

Since the eruption of the Darfur conflict in 2003, the name of Khalil Ibrahim has been associated with the developments that followed in the region.

In a short time, Khalil Ibrahim has transformed from a doctor healing patients to a rebel fighting against the central government in Khartoum under claims of marginalization and lack of development in the region which borders Chad.

Khalil Ibrahim, who is now in his 50s, was born at Tina village (also known as Tine village) in North Darfur on Sudan's border with Chad. Belonging to Zaghawa tribe, he has a blood relation with Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno.

Khalil Ibrahim had his primary school education at Tina village and secondary education at El Fasher high school. He graduated from the Department of Medicine at Gezira University in 1984.

He worked as a doctor for a while in Saudi Arabia but returned to Sudan after Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir assumed power in 1989, and then served as a doctor at Omdurman hospital.

Khalil Ibrahim has assumed many political posts, including Minister of Education in North Darfur State, Adviser of Bahral- Jabel State Government, Minister of Health in North Darfur State, and Minister of Engineering Affairs in Blue Nile State.

During 1989-1999, Khalil Ibrahim was a prominent leader in the People's Defense Forces, formed by the National Salvation Revolution, which fought alongside the government against South Sudan. He was then known as "Emir of the Mujahideen" in the south.

After the fragmentation in the ranks of the Islamic movement between President Omar al-Bashir and Hassan Al-Turabi in 1999, Khalil Ibrahim was among those who sided with al-Turabi.

Khalil Ibrahim defected from the ruling government in 1999 and in the same year issued a book titled "The Black Book" that was secretly circulated. The book contained ethnic assessment of top posts in Sudan, together with accusations that a small number of people were in control of the country while most of the populations, including those in Darfur, were marginalized.

Khalil Ibrahim founded the JEM in 2001, and the movement started its military activity alongside the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) in February 2003.

The movement is considered of Islamic inclination, with most of its supporters belonging to African tribes, particularly the Zaghawa tribe and the Sinnar and Masaleet. The JEM is the second major military and political group in Darfur after the SLA, led by Abdul-Wahid Mohamed Nur who belongs to Fur tribe.

In May 2006, the Sudanese government and the SLA's Minni Arko Minnaw faction signed the Abuja agreement for peace in Darfur, but Khalil Ibrahim refused to join the agreement under the pretext that it did not fulfill the demands of his movement. The SLA's Abdul-Wahid Mohamed Nur faction also refused to join the Abuja agreement.

The JEM allied with other movements rejecting the Abuja agreement in what was known as the "National Salvation Front" against Khartoum.

Following the eruption of unrest on Feb. 17, Khalil Ibrahim left Libya and returned to Sudan.

Editor: Tang Danlu

Army kills key Darfur rebel leader, state media say

Rebel leader Khalil Ibrahim (pictured) of the Justice and Equality Movement, one of Darfur's two main militant groups, was killed by the Sudanese army in west Wadbanda in North Kordofan, Sudan's official news agency said on Sunday.

By News Wires (text)

AFP - Sudan's army killed a key rebel leader from the Darfur region Sunday, state media reported, three days after anti-government forces said they had begun advancing on the capital Khartoum.

"The Sudanese army announce that they killed Khalil Ibrahim in fighting today in west Wadbanda, North Kordofan," the official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) said.

Ibrahim headed the Justice and Equality Movement, the most heavily armed group in the Darfur region.

The report of his death could not be independently confirmed.

On Saturday SUNA, quoting army spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saad, said the military was combing the North Kordofan-North Darfur border area after JEM "attacked civilians" and targeted local leaders while looting their property in the Umm-Gozain, Goz Abyadh and Aramal areas.

Saad gave no casualty figures.

The JEM announced on Thursday through its London-based spokesman that its forces were advancing from Darfur eastward towards Khartoum.

JEM spokesman Gibril Adam Bilal said then that the group had reached En Nahud, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) east of Darfur in North Kordofan, on a mission to topple the regime led by President Omar al-Bashir.

On the official Sudan TV channel, Saad said Sunday that government forces "clashed directly" with Ibrahim's troops, killing him and "a group of his leaders" as Ibrahim was on his way to South Sudan.

The South became independent in July following an overwhelming vote to separate after a two-decade civil war. Sudanese troops have been battling rebels on the poorly-defined southern border, with each country accusing the other of supporting rebels within their territories.

The governor of North Kordofan, also on Sudan TV, said rebel vehicles were seen burning after the clash in west Wadbanda, in the border region between his state and South Darfur.

In 2008, more than 222 people were killed when JEM guerrillas drove about 1,000 kilometres across the desert to Omdurman, just across the River Nile from the presidential palace on the Khartoum side.

Government troops repulsed them after heavy clashes and later sentenced dozens of rebels to death for their role in the assault.

In July, the government signed the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur with the Liberation and Justice Movement, an alliance of rebel splinter factions.

Darfur's main armed groups -- JEM and factions of the Sudan Liberation Army headed by Minni Minnawi and Abdelwahid Nur -- did not sign the deal.

Instead, last month they, along with the SPLM-North rebel group, ratified documents forming the new Sudanese Revolutionary Front dedicated to "popular uprising and armed rebellion" against the National Congress Party regime in Khartoum.

According to the United Nations at least 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur since 2003 when fighting broke out between non-Arab rebels and the Arab-dominated Khartoum regime.

The government puts the death toll at 10,000.

UN officials say 1.9 million people are internally displaced and still living in camps in Darfur, with about 80,000 newly displaced by fighting this year.

Six people including President Bashir are being sought or are before the International Criminal Court in The Hague for crimes in Darfur.

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