US legislators and activists are calling for the release of a key Sudan rebel leader and humanitarian coordinator who served as a link between relief organizations and insurgents. Sudanese officials stated yesterday that they would release the leader, Suleiman Jamous, if they were given guarantees that he would not rejoin armed rebels in Darfur. Many are skeptical that the government will abide by their pledge not to re-arrest Jamous. However, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon is expected to be in Khartoum on Saturday, and it is likely that his presence would deter any action.
Jamous, aged 62, is suffering from abdominal bleeding and is in need of a colonoscopy and biopsy, according to a UN medical report. Jamous was the humanitarian coordinator for the Sudan Liberation Army for three years before being arrested more than a year ago by rival rebel chief Minni Minawi. Jan Pronk, then the UN special representative to Sudan, negotiated with Minawi to have Jamous moved to a UN medical facility in Kidugli, near Darfur, on June 24. This was done on the understanding that he would be released in four days. Sudanese officials then blocked UN requests for Jamous’ safe passage and have kept him under virtual house arrest with a military vehicle parked outside a hospital in Kordofan, since the UN moved him there without permission last year.
Many insist that Jamous’ presence and participation in the wake of peace talks in Arusha, Tanzania, is necessary to keep western rebel groups unified, which has proven to be a major challenge in the past months. Eric Reeves, an academic who has written widely about Sudan, stated that Jamous’ presence “would be extremely important, and he can play a conciliatory role. But it is just for that reason that [the] Khartoum [government] keeps him in prison.” One of the biggest rebel groups, SLA-Unity, threatened to boycott the talks if Jamous was not allowed to attend, however they eventually relented.
American actress Mia Farrow, an advocate for peace in Sudan, wrote a letter to Sudanese President al-Bashir on Sunday offering herself as an alternative prisoner to Jamous. In her appeal, Farrow wrote: “I am therefore offering to take Mr. Jamous’s place, to exchange my freedom for his in the knowledge of his importance to the civilians of Darfur and in the conviction that he will apply his energies toward creating the just and lasting peace that the Sudanese people deserve and hope for.”
For more information, please see:
Washington Post – Activists Urge Sudan to Release Key Rebel – 08 August 2007
AllAfrica – Rebels Unite for Talks, Key Leaders Still Absent – 06 August 2007
AllAfrica – Mia Farrow Offers Her Freedom for Darfur Rebel – 06 August 2007
CNN – Farrow Offers Jail Time for Rebel – 06 August 2007
