To some of them, the crisis was exaggerated to favor some superpowers who wanted to divide their beloved land. Others look at the calamity as the result of a conflict inherited from the neighbors of Sudan, such as Chad, Libya, and Central African countries, who also have many African tribes living there. So settling these conflicts without summoning the aforementioned countries would not be fruitful, according to this viewpoint.

I trusted the people of Darfur to get the facts and let IslamOnline.net’s readers know what has gone wrong in that area. I went inside the villages and refugee camps and conducted several interviews with some local chiefs, both African and Arab.

In the first instance, the Khartoum government was accused of instigating some Arabs to wage war on the Africans in order to promote Pan-Arabism and dislodge the indigenous African tribes from their homeland. The people affected were said to be the African tribes—the Fur, the Masseleet and the Zagawa; they lost about three thousand people, including men, women, and children, from 1988 to 1990. Roughly 18 different conflicts were said to have erupted in the region, which resulted in the destruction of property and loss of life, as well as the displacement of local people.

Some human rights organizations have accused the Khartoum government of sponsoring ethnic cleansing operations targeting the Fur and other Africans. The Khartoum government is accused of supplying ammunition to militias, known as Arab Janjaweed, to attack other Africans. Ak47 automatic rifles, for example, could be heard in places like Kebkabia. Other allegations include the attacks on African Christians and Animists. The militias are also accused of rape and other human rights violations.

But a question must not go unanswered: why would the government instigate the Arabs to fight against the Africans? Why would they incite hatred in the area? Were there any violations against the Christians as alleged?

Looking back into Sudanese history, there have been a series of conflicts between farmers and nomads in Darfur; these problems were often settled by the heads of clans, outside the courts.

So what really happened in Darfur?

The long simmering rivalry between Sudanese President ‘Umar Hassan Al-Bashir and the jailed ex-Parliamentary speaker, and Secretary General of the Popular Arab-Islamic Conference (PAIC), Dr. Hasan Al-Turabi culminated in the crisis—and this is where the problem began. Politicians in Sudan want power; they want the Bashir administration out by all possible means, so they are ready to make use of everything at their disposal, including the “Darfur card,” to counter the regime.

The Darfur crisis is supposed to have been settled amicably, but it got out of hand because the politicians saw the government as incapable of using its force to immediately quench the fire, or because they saw the government as having many supporters among the Arabs—a loophole to invite the intervention of foreign powers, who want the oil, uranium, and other mineral resources in Darfur—this is their interest in this land.

In an interview with Mr. Ghazy Suliman, a prominent politician in Sudan and member of an opposition party, he said that the issue is that of politicians struggling to reach the seat of power, which Bashir’s government is not ready to evacuate. If the government left, the rebels would stop. Herders and farmers have been at loggerheads for a long time and these disputes often end with two or three traditional rulers “sitting together under the tree” to settle the differences, but today all we hear in the media are things like rape, mass graves, and so on, which are far from the facts.

Musa Gali, a retired general and a prominent figure in Al-Fashir in Darfur, believes that the calamity has been ignited by enemies of the government who want to jump to the seat of power by all means. “They constitute 3% of the people of Darfur. They have no agenda or request to be presented to the government; instead they went abroad to campaign against the government and form rebel groups to antagonize the government in power. If there is any problem at all between tribes, we know how to settle it, but they falsify claims so as to attract foreign enemies against us,” he says.

The Sudanese government accused the rebels—the Sudanese Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement—of planning various attacks on government establishments, among which is the attack on Al-Fashir airport on April 25, 2003, in which soldiers were killed and planes were destroyed.

I traveled inside Darfur, in the streets of Niyala, and life was going on as usual. I saw children playing football. Getting close to them, I discovered that they are from different clans and tribes; yet, they all identified themselves with Sudan, rather than the tribes or clans they belonged to.

Ahmad Muhammad, 24, is a student in Niyala and a member of the Taragy football club. He denied any tribal discrimination except for some normal conflicts. Ahmad Abdul Majeed, 19, is a secondary school student. He told me that there is no segregation as far as he is concerned. Although his parents are African, he has grown up among Arabs, who treated him with respect. So tribalism seems to be a dirty game and a campaign against the unity of the land.

However, some hearts are bleeding. There are those who lost their family, property, and belongings in the conflicts. These citizens blame the Janjaweed, Toroboro, Basmarga and other militias, who have waged war for years from hidden military camps around Darfur.

The word Janjaweed in the media refers to the Arabs, but no Arab is known by this title. This word is actually used to describe criminals. This is why Sheikh Talal Al-Balah Ibraheem, 72, from the Jago tribe, complained bitterly that he lost four children during an attack by some Janjaweed. According to Sheikh Talal, 460 cows were stolen, four houses were burnt to ashes, and 35 people were killed in the village within two days.

Another Darfuri said on condition of anonymity that he returned to Niyala because he had lost everything to Arab Janjaweed who robbed him. He claimed that they were “supported by military men from the government.” He even said that the Arabs want the Africans out of Darfur by all means.

Analyzing the facts, it is apparent that a conflict like that of Darfur is quite complex, and each party could be using fabrications to support its claims. It’s important to note that there are no sufficient Sudanese soldiers to protect remote areas, which is why the government sometimes allows militias to play this role. The government might have given ammunition to some groups to protect remote areas, and these groups might have used the ammunition to fight their enemies. Some rebels might have hidden between the villages and got attacked by government soldiers, and in that process, civilians or inhabitants of these areas were killed.

On the other hand, opposition groups have used the situation to attract supporters from both inside and outside Sudan, such as the United States, who brands the crisis genocide, and the United Nations, who calls it the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The opposition might have driven support from rebels who fought in neighboring countries. It’s in the interest of some foreign countries to help the opposition in order to benefit from the resources in Darfur.

We must refute the claim made in mainstream media that African Christians and Animists were targeted, because the inhabitants of Darfur are Muslim. It is not a religious conflict as was proclaimed by the media; it is a conflict that started with ethnic and tribal differences that could happen in other countries. But the regime in power failed to take swift action, possibly due to the enormous size of the Sudanese territory. Khartoum thought it was similar to previous occurrences that were settled by local chiefs—but this particular conflict got out of control.

At the same time, some issues were exaggerated, such as rape cases. Yes, some women were “assaulted” or “humiliated,” but these two words were misused for rape by some media outlets.

Although the Sudanese government was blamed, less was said of the rebels who have turned down various peace conferences in Abuja and elsewhere, and who should also be blamed for attacking some areas. By sharing the blame, the situation might be eased.

In conclusion, the situation in Darfur is quite pathetic, as most of Darfur is underdeveloped. Even without war, it needs rural development projects to enhance its inhabitants’ standard of living. Most of the villages have no electricity, hospitals, or roads, which is a problem facing most African countries, especially those ravaged by war. This is one of the major reasons why some people came to the refugee camp in order to secure the benefits given to refugees. Relief programs are needed in collaboration with the Sudanese government to help the people settle down after having been displaced. And the government should send more troops to the area to protect the life and property of the Darfuris.

Mufutau Adewole Olaleye is a Nigerian Newscasting editor and translator at Voice of Africa, Radio Cairo. He traveled to Darfur, Sudan from October 10 through November 7, 2004.