Darfur governor expects return of displaced people after reconciliation of two tribes

A state governor in the restive western Sudanese region of Darfur expected on Friday that his state would witness the biggest return of displaced people following reconciliation between two major rival tribes.

The reconciliation would "pave the way for the return of more than 20,000 displaced people to the area, which will constitute the biggest return of displaced people" since the latest round of inter-tribe conflicts and armed anti-government activities erupted in the state in February, 2003, said Al-Haj Ata al-Manan Idris, the governor of South Darfur State.

He made the expectation at a ceremony celebrating the signing of a reconciliation agreement between al-Zaghawa and al-Zaghawa Amkamlati, the two biggest tribes near Nyala, the capital of the state.

He said that some 1,500 families had come back to their homes in the area in the recent period, adding that their move would encourage more displaced people to take the same action. "This is the beginning," the governor said.

He also reiterated the Sudanese government's commitment to providing basic services to the area.

Friday's ceremony in Nyala was attended by government officials, officers of the armed forces and police as well as representatives of the African Union which is carrying out a peacekeeping mission in Darfur, the Sudanese SUNA news agency reported.

Bloody clashes between tribes over natural resources including water and lands are a part of the Darfur conflict, which have led to the killing of tens of thousands of people and displaced some one million people, some of them have fled to neighboring countries.

The Sudanese government, which is under mounting international pressures on the deployment of UN peacekeepers in Darfur, says that mediating reconciliation between the conflicting tribes is one of the important ways to resolve the Darfur problem.

Source: Xinhua