Few days ago, the Sudanese President Omer Al-Bashir met with the Fur tribe, one of the most important tribe in Darfur region.
For realizing the expected positive impacts of this meeting on the people, we must know the weight of the Fur tribe and its influence in the region. It is quite enough to know that the Fur tribe is the sole tribe, which spread all over Sudan. The people of the Fur tribe, which is considered as African tribe, practice agriculture.
There is a consensus that the Fur tribe population ranks number 2 after the Rizigat tribe. And if we know that the Rizigat tribe is considered number 2 in Sudan in terms of population, we could say that the Fur tribe is the second biggest tribe in Sudan.
Thus, the meeting of President Al-bashir with this tribe necessitates putting into consideration this important fact about the weight of the tribe in Darfur. It was remarkable that the meeting was attended by the prominent sultans, chiefs, notables, and heads of the native administration and representatives of women and youth sectors.
Emir Salahueddin Mohamed Al-fadil has spoken at the beginning of the meeting on his capacity as the chairman of the committee that was formed by the tribe in order to unify the tribe. In his speech, Salahueddin said they came to meet with President Al-Bashir with the objective of seeking a solution to the Darfur issue, saying that the participants represent the entire political groups in Darfur region.
He called for addressing the roots of the conflict in order to reach a final solution to the issue.
He further called for immediate cease fire, allowing the tribe to establish community police to maintain local security and reconsidering the representation of the tribe in the parliament.
The Minister of Culture and Youth Mohamed Yousif has also addressed the meeting, calling for realizing development and helping the displaced persons return home. The representative of women Badria Abdul-rahman has meanwhile said that most of the residents of the displaced camps are women, calling for rehabilitation of villages.
Shirtai Ibrahim Abdallah said he is very optimistic that the problems could be resolved.
President Al-Bashir has presented the final speech reminding the participants that they are (People of Quran and faith), and reaffirming that peace is a priority for his government.
President Al-bashir said that the rebels were not positively responding to the government attempts to find a peaceful solution to the problem, referring to the stubbornness of Abdul-Wahid Mohamed Nur - a rebel leader from Al-Fur tribe fighting the government and rejecting to sit to any peace negotiation table.
The important lesson learned from the said meeting between President Al-Bashir and the Fur tribe representatives is that the people of the Darfur themselves are seeking peace and did not ask Abdul-Wahid Mohamed Nur to represent them.
But, the most important lesson is that the native administration leaders should be part of any solution because rebel leaders have different agendas. The positive outcome of the meeting and the progress made in Doha talks on Darfur peace are clear signals that the Darfur issue almost resolved.