Member State of the Arab League
24-684: The Eastern Sudan States Coordinating Council is a body established by the Eastern Sudan Peace Agreement signed by the Government of Sudan and the rebel Eastern Front in June 2006. It seeks to enhance cooperation between the three eastern states of the Republic of Sudan ; Kassala , Red Sea and Al Qadarif . The agreement also established an Eastern Sudan Reconstruction and Development Fund to aid wealth-sharing between
48-657: A comprehensive peace agreement between the Sudanese government and the Eastern Front, which culminated in signing of the Eastern Sudan Peace Agreement on 14 October 2006, in Asmara. The agreement covers security issues, power sharing at a federal and regional level, and wealth sharing in regard to the three Eastern states Kassala , Red Sea and Al Qadarif . It also established an Eastern Sudan States Coordinating Council to enhance coordination and cooperation between
72-1073: A conflict exacerbated by dwindling rainfall and drought . The Janjaweed were a major player in the Darfur conflict between 2003 and 2020, in opposition to the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and the Justice and Equality Movement rebels. In 2013, the Rapid Support Forces grew out of the Janjaweed. The origin of the word Janjaweed is unclear. It may derive from the Arabic words jinn ( Arabic : جِنّ , lit. ' hidden , i.e. genie , demon or insane ') and ʾajāwīd ( Arabic : أَجاويد , lit. 'horses, horsemen'), and thus has been translated into English by some sources as "devils on horseback". Other sources suggest it may derive from
96-571: A western state in Sudan, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi supported the creation of the Tajammu al-Arabi (Arab Gathering) militia, which was described by Gérard Prunier as "a militantly racist and pan-Arabist organization which stressed the 'Arab' character of the province". The Arab Gathering shared members and a source of support with the Islamic Legion , and the distinction between the two
120-770: Is often ambiguous. The nearly continuous cross-border raids contributed to a separate ethnic conflict within Darfur that killed about 9,000 people between 1985 and 1988. The Janjaweed leadership has some background in Gaddafi's mercenary forces. The Janjaweed first appeared in 1988 after Chadian president Hissène Habré , backed by France and the United States , defeated the Libyan army . Gaddafi's Chadian protégé, Acheikh Ibn-Oumar , retreated with his partisan forces to Darfur, where they were hosted by Sheikh Musa Hilal ,
144-650: The Baggara , became involved in the war over grazing territory. In 1999–2000, faced with threats of insurgency in Western and Northern Darfur, Khartoum ’s security armed the Janjaweed forces. As the insurgency escalated in February 2003, spearheaded by the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and the Justice and Equality Movement , the Sudanese government responded by using the Janjaweed as its main counter-insurgency force. Janjaweed forces were ordered to attack and recover
168-659: The Saudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen . According to the United Nations definition, Janjaweed membership consists of Arab nomad tribes from the Sahel, the core of whom are Abbala Arabs , traditionally employed in camel herding , with significant recruitment from the Baggara . Janjaweed nomads were initially at odds with Darfur's sedentary population due to competition over natural grazing grounds and farmland,
192-651: The states of Red Sea and Kassala . The Eastern Front's Chairman is Musa Mohamed Ahmed . While the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) was the primary member of the Eastern Front, the SPLA was obliged to leave by the January 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the Second Sudanese Civil War . Their place was taken in February 2004 after the merger of the larger Beja Congress with
216-418: The 1990s. The Eastern Front had threatened to block the flow of crude oil , which travels from the oil fields of the south-central regions to outside markets through Port Sudan. A government plan to build a second oil refinery near Port Sudan was also threatened. The government was reported to have three times as many soldiers in the east to suppress the rebellion and protect vital infrastructure as in
240-483: The Eastern Sudan Reconstruction and Development Fund, the peace agreement also allocated the following political positions to East Sudanese people: Eastern Sudan Peace Agreement The Eastern Front ( Arabic : الجبهة الشرقية , romanized : al-Jabhah al-Sharqīyah ) was a coalition of rebel groups operating in eastern Sudan along the border with Eritrea , particularly
264-530: The Eritrean Islamist factions. Meanwhile, the JEM has formed an alliance with the Eastern Front and moved troops into the region apparently in an attempt to position itself as a national movement, rather than one limited to its Darfur homeland. The Eastern Front also demand the liberation of Hala'ib Triangle from Egyptian occupation and its restitution to Sudanese sovereignty, as was the case prior to
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#1732772467148288-660: The Persian word jangavi ( Persian : جنگجوی , lit. 'warriors'), or a portmanteau of three words: جَن ( jan ) from English "gun"; jinn ; and ʾajāwīd. According to Darfuris, "Janjaweed" is a word from the Chadian dialect of Arabic that is used for criminals, naughty people, unruly children, etc. The word "Janjaweed" was used by François Tombalbaye , the Christian President of Chad, to marginalize his Muslim political opponents. In Darfur ,
312-586: The RSF merge into the Sudanese Army as part of the Sudanese transition to democracy . By April 2023, power struggles developed between Sudan's de facto national leader, army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan , and the leader of the RSF, Hemedti . On 15 April 2023, clashes between RSF and army forces erupted across the country. By the second day of the conflict, 78 people had been reported killed. Among
336-615: The central government and the three states. It requires the President of Sudan to appoint one Assistant to the President from nominees presented by the Eastern Front. The council is composed of the following 15 members: The three state Governors chair the proceedings of the council on a rotational basis. In addition to the establishment of the Eastern Sudan States Coordinating Council and
360-487: The dead were three World Food Programme (WFP) workers, triggering the organization to suspend its work in Sudan, where it had been a principal force in alleviating hunger. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres demanded immediate justice for the killings and called for an end to the conflict. Diplomats from the African Union and Saudi Arabia mediated a three-hour humanitarian ceasefire to permit
384-517: The more widely reported Darfur region. There were also rumors that the government is considering unleashing militias, similar to the Janjaweed of the Darfur conflict , against the Rashaida and Beja. The Eritrean government in mid-2006 dramatically changed their position on the conflict. From being the main supporter of the Eastern Front they decided that bringing the Sudanese government around
408-655: The national government, which has been seen as a destabilizing influence on the agreement ending the conflict in Southern Sudan . The Eastern Front was strengthened after 17 Beja rioters were killed by police in Port Sudan in late January 2005 and angry young Beja men began to join rebel camps in Eritrea . The Eritrean government in Asmara supported the Eastern Front apparently in retaliation for Sudanese support to
432-442: The negotiating table for a possible agreement with the rebels would be in their best interests. The International Crisis Group suggests this is because they want to avoid any conflict on their Sudanese border in case of war with Ethiopia . They were successful in their attempts and on 19 June 2006, the two sides signed an agreement on declaration of principles. This was the start of four months of Eritrean-mediated negotiations for
456-568: The newly elevated chief of the Rizeigat Arab tribes of north Darfur. Hilal's tribesmen had earlier smuggled Libyan weapons to Ibn-Oumar's forces. A French-Chadian incursion destroyed Ibn-Oumar's camp, but his weapons remained with his Mahamid hosts. Throughout the 1990s, the Janjaweed were Arab partisans who pursued a local agenda of controlling land, and were tolerated by the Sudan Government. The majority of Darfur’s Arabs,
480-612: The original Janjaweed. A political base was also reestablished in Chad as part of the United Front for Democratic Change (FUC) coalition. By October 2007, only the United States government had declared the Janjaweed killings in Darfur to be genocide , since they had killed an estimated 200,000–400,000 civilians over the previous three years. The UN Security Council called for the Janjaweed to be disarmed. On 14 July 2008,
504-527: The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court filed genocide charges against Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir , accusing him of masterminding attempts to wipe out African tribes in Darfur with a campaign of murder, rape and deportation. In 2013, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were formed from the Janjaweed to fight against rebel groups in Darfur, South Kordofan , and Blue Nile . In 2023, international diplomats insisted that
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#1732772467148528-609: The rebel-held areas of Darfur, conducting a campaign against rebels in Darfur. In 2004, the U.S. State Department and others named leading Janjaweed commanders, including Musa Hilal, as genocide suspects. By early 2006, many Janjaweed had been absorbed into the Sudan Armed Forces including the Popular Defense Forces and Border Guards . Meanwhile, the Janjaweed expanded to include some Arab tribes in eastern Darfur who were not historically associated with
552-583: The smaller Rashaida Free Lions , two tribal based groups of the Beja and Rashaida people , respectively. The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), a rebel group from Darfur in the west, then joined. Both the Free Lions and the Beja Congress stated that government inequity in the distribution of oil profits was the cause of their rebellion. They demanded to have a greater say in the composition of
576-745: The three states. On 8 January 2011 the Federal Alliance of Eastern Sudan (FAES), a splinter group of the former rebel Eastern Front, merged with the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). Janjaweed The Janjaweed ( Arabic : جَنْجَويد , romanized : Janjawīd ; also transliterated Janjaweed ) are an Arab nomad militia group operating in the Sahel region that operates in Sudan , particularly in Darfur and eastern Chad . They are also active in Yemen due to participating in
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