Khalil Ibrahim

Dr. Khalil Ibrahim is the leader of the Zaghawa-dominated Darfurian rebel group the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

History

Ibrahim is from the Kobe branch of the Zaghawa ethnic group, which is located mainly in Sudan, with a minority on the Chad side of the border. He was an enthusiastic supporter of the National Islamic Front (NIF) seizure of power under the direction of Islamist Hassan al-Turabi in 1989. He also served as the state minister for education in Darfur between 1991 and 1994 in al-Fashir, North Darfur. A physician, Dr. Khalil spent four months in 1992 as a volunteer doctor in the paramilitary Popular Defence Forces. By Ibrahim's own account, he was disaffected with the Islamist movement by 1993 after seeing the economic neglect of the NIF, as well as its support to armed militias. At this time, he became part of a covert cell of Islamists who were seeking to change the NiF from inside. Dr. Ibrahim went on to serve as the state minister for social affairs in Blue Nile in 1997 before a post as advisor to the governor of Southern Sudan in Juba in 1998. However, others noted that he never received a national level appointment. Ibrahim's colleague in JEM, Ahmad Tugod, stated, "Khalil is not a first or even second class political leader. [...] He struggled all of his life to get a post in Khartoum."Flint, Julie and Alex de Waal, "Darfur: A Short History of a Long War", Zed Books, London March 2006, ISBN 1-84277-697-5, p. 91] He quit the post in August 1998, several months before the end of his appointment, and formed an NGO called "Fighting Poverty". In December 1999, when al-Bashir sidelined al-Turabi with the help of Ali Osman Taha, Dr. Ibrahim was in the Netherlands, studying for a Masters in Public Health at Universiteit Maastricht.

In the meantime, the structure of covert cells that Ibrahim had helped set up in 1994 had spread to Khartoum. The dissidents, dubbing themselves the "The Seekers of Truth and Justice" published the "" in 2000, claiming that riverine Arabs dominated political power and resources. Khalil Ibrahim sided with the breakaway Popular Congress party, who had split from President al-Bashir's party.Fact|date=February 2007 In 2001, he was one of twenty people sent out of the country by the dissidents to go public. In August 2001, Ibrahim published a press release from the Netherlands, in which he announced the formation of the Justice and Equality Movement. The JEM has a relatively small ethnic base of support, being limited to the Kobe Zaghawa, including many kinsmen from across the Chadian border.

Darfur conflict

On 5 March 2002, Dr. Ibrahim claimed credit for initiating a government revolt. This apparent claim of the landmark attack on Golo, actually carried out by the Sudan Liberation Army, was mocked by the SLA and the JEM was forced to back away from their announcement. Regardless, the JEM and the anti-government SLA formed a loose alliance in prosecuting the Darfur conflict.

In May 2006, the JEM rejected the Abuja peace process, which was accepted by the faction of the SLA led by Minni Minnawi, but rejected by the smaller SLA factions. On 30 June 2006, Ibrahim, Khamis Abdalla, the leader of an SLM faction, Dr Sharif Harir and Ahmed Ibrahim, co-leaders of the Sudanese Federal Democratic Alliance, founded the National Redemption Front rebel group in Asmara, Eritrea but which is based in Chad.

Notes and references