| Submit your comments on this article |
| Africa: Horn |
| Inside the Darfur rebels |
| 2004-04-06 |
| Rabu, a rebel fighter, cocks his ageing Kalashnikov and loosens the red bandana on his forehead as he explains to me his unit's combat tactics. "When we see the enemy we fight immediately, we rush upon them - there is no attempt at out-flanking or waiting," he says. "We must be fast and terrible before their helicopters arrive." The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) has many such guerrilla units, mainly in improvised battle cars, that move across Darfur and raid areas controlled by the Khartoum government whenever they see an opportunity. The cars are heavily armed and the young men sport yellow and green turbans, cigarettes and wrap-around shades. Rabu is my SLM/A escort as I cross the border from Chad to Darfur. A few days earlier, President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan declared the war in Darfur was over and the rebels had been defeated. "If there is peace I want to study mathematics, have camels again and have a TV to watch Liverpool play," Rabu says. We have stopped our vehicle and stand under some trees at 0300 in the desert. He pauses and peers out into the darkness, then swings the ragged-looking rocket-propelled grenade off his shoulder. For the past hour we have been followed. The car lights in the distance flicker and go out. Rabu crouches down and I follow suit. "But with Khartoum there will be no peace, only war," he says. He disappears into the night with my three bodyguards. I am left by the car. Then rifle shots go off in the darkness and I hug closer to the car tyre. A little later, three figures are coming towards me in the moonlight. I have no idea whether they are Sudanese army forces or my escorts. There is no point running, so I stand up and hold my breath - showing myself in the moonlight. The men draw closer, ghostlike out of the darkness. With relief I see Rabu's smile and recognise his easy loping gait. We continue on our journey to meet the SLM/A military leader Minni Arkou Minnawi. A former English teacher, he is leading the SLM/A rebels in their guerrilla war against the Sudanese government. We drive throughout the next day and arrive at a cluster of trees. I see about 20 armed men, thinly spread out, watching our approach. Rabu and the others in my car raise their hands and the men step out from behind their cover. Each soldier smiles and grips my hand, and I wonder which one is Minni. A carpet is placed in the sand and I remove my shoes and sip hot sweet tea. Eventually a man walks slowly towards me in a loose fitting German army coat, with the hood up. I stand up and shake his hand. "Mr Philips from London," he says, beaming a smile from under his hood. "I want you to film a message to Mr President of Britain - tell him to come and rescue the people of Darfur." I join the rebels in a reconnaissance mission following a government attack. In clouds of dust, we speed across the desert, the powerful battle cars moving hard and fast, the soldiers always watching the sky for the government's Antonov planes. The cars enter a village, one of the many deserted throughout Darfur, and the young soldiers spill out, cocking their weapons and splitting into small combat groups of five. I join one and we run full pelt through the village, Kalashnikovs raised to the shoulders. The men are nervous and unsure if the government soldiers are still in the village. But they need not worry - the only residents the village now has are piled corpses: stacked one upon one another, rotting in the sun. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #4 LOL. Rantburg has gotta be the leading combat dress critic in the west, see also West Africa Queen of Battle and Pricilla of the Desert. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-04-06 2:47:02 PM |
| #3 The cars are heavily armed and the young men sport yellow and green turbans, cigarettes and wrap-around shades. ....These guys sound like henchmen from an Our Man Flint movie... Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2004-04-06 1:13:46 PM |
| #2 SLM/A military leader Minni Arkou |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-04-06 10:20:06 AM |
| #1 The cars are heavily armed and the young men sport yellow and green turbans, cigarettes and wrap-around shades. We need to get some pictures of these guys up on Rantburg. Sounds like some dashingly dressed fellows. LOL. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul on the Road 2004-04-06 10:16:42 AM |