Tajammu Al-Arabi
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Tajammu al-Arabi (), translated into English as Arab Gathering or Arab Alliance, was a Sudanese Arab tribal militia and political organization that operated in western
Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
and eastern
Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...
in the late 1980s under Libyan sponsorship. The organization was organized by tribal leaders and Islamic Legion militants in the context of the ethno-tribal conflicts that were taking place in
Darfur Darfur ( ; ) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju () while ruled by the Daju, who migrated from Meroë , and it was renamed Dartunjur () when the Tunjur ruled the area. ...
between the
Baggara Arabs The Baggāra ( "heifer herder"), also known as Chadian Arabs, are a Nomad, nomadic confederation of people of mixed Arabs, Arab and Arabization, Arabized Indigenous peoples of Africa, indigenous African ancestry, inhabiting a portion of the Sa ...
and the
Furs A fur is a soft, thick growth of hair that covers the skin of almost all mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an ...
in those years. Although the organization claimed that its aim was solely to represent and defend the interests of Arab tribes, the organization was described by
Gérard Prunier Gérard Prunier (born 14 October 1942 in Paris ) is a French academic, historian, and consultant. He specializes in African history and affairs —particularly the Horn of Africa and the African Great Lakes regions. Biography Prunier received a P ...
as "a militantly racist and pan-Arabist organization which stressed the 'Arab' character of the province." Scholars agree that Tajammu al-Arabi played an important role in the creation of the
Janjaweed The Janjaweed () are an Sudanese Arabs, Arab nomad militia group operating in the Sahel, Sahel region, specifically in Sudan, particularly in Darfur and eastern Chad. They have also been speculated to be active in Yemen. According to the United ...
, which operate in the region to this day.


History

Its composition had a background in local tribal militias and in
Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until his assassination by Libyan rebel forces in 2011. He came to power ...
's mercenary forces that operated in the
Sahel The Sahel region (; ), or Sahelian acacia savanna, is a Biogeography, biogeographical region in Africa. It is the Ecotone, transition zone between the more humid Sudanian savannas to its south and the drier Sahara to the north. The Sahel has a ...
during the 1970s and 1980s, especially in Chad. Although remote origins of this grouping are uncertain, the organization could have its origins in Libya's Islamic Legion and its missionary da'wa, who were inspired by a racist ideology and reduced the causes of the Sahelian chaos of the 1970s and 1980s to "Arabs versus Africans.” In 1980 Nimeiry appointed Ahmed Ibrahim Diraige as Governor of Darfur, the first Fur to hold the post since Ali Dinar. During the 1980s, the Furs gained greater representation in local government, occupying most of its posts and institutions, something that displeased Arab Darfurians. Between 1984 and 1985 a horrific famine devastated Darfur, causing more than 100,000 deaths and many more displaced. Famine, drought and the struggle for the region's natural resources sparked peasant revolts and encouraged ethnic conflicts between the nomadic Arab camel herders of Sudan and Chad and the more sedentary native Furs. Interethnic tensions escalated to the point of war by 1987. That year a group of Arab tribal leaders from Darfur, using the rubric Tajammu al-Arabi, addressed an open letter to
Sadiq al-Mahdi Sadiq al-Mahdi (; 25 December 1935 – 26 November 2020), also known as Sadiq as-Siddiq, was a Sudanese political and religious figure who was Prime Minister of Sudan from 1966 to 1967 and again from 1986 to 1989. He was head of the National Um ...
denouncing an underrepresentation in regional government. Despite rising tensions, al-Mahdi ignored Tajammu al-Arabi's demands and appointed Tijani Sese, a Fur, as governor. Tajammu al-Arabi interpreted this as a provocation and in response published a manifesto titled "Quraysh 1". This manifesto, which became the organization's political-military program, openly advocated the destruction of the regional government and the murder of black tribal leaders. The manifesto was published in October 1987 and its signatories included Abdalla Masar, Sharif Ali Jagar, Ibrahim Yagoub, Hesain Hasan Basha, Nazir Hanid Beito, Tajeldin Ahmed Alhilo, Ayoub El Baloula, Mohamed Khawif Alshitali, Zakaria Ibrahim Abu Lehao, Mohamed Zakaria Daldoum, Nazir Alhadi Eisa Dabaka, Altayib Abu Shama, Sindika Dawood, Haroun Ali Sanusi, Dr. Omer Abdel Jabbar, Abdalla Yahia, Sulaiman Jabir Abbaker, Nazir Mohamed Yagoub Alumda, Hamid Mohamed Kheiralla, Mohamed Aldouma Omer, Abdelrahman Ali Abdelnabi, Ahmed Shahata Ahmed, Abubaker Abbo Amin, Jabir Ahmed Alreyyah. The proclamation marked an escalation in the ethnic conflict and is considered to have marked the start of the War of the Tribes. During this war
Musa Hilal Musa Hilal () is a Sudanese Arab tribal chief and militia leader and adviser to the Sudanese Minister of Internal Affairs. His Um Jalul clan exercised tribal leadership of the Arab Mahamid tribe in Darfur. The Mahamid are part of a larger con ...
, son of Sheikh Hilal Muhammad and a future leader of the Janjaweed, came to prominence. The drought and famine of 1983–84 caused the pastures that the Baggara nomads traditionally grazed to dry up, forcing them to settle on land where no one wanted to work as day laborers in the towns. A young Musa Hilal, as a representative of the Rizayqat tribe, agreed with Gaddafi on a third alternative: Establish training camps for his tribe in Darfur and join the Islamic Legion to fight the
jihad ''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...
in the Sahel against the "enemies of the Arabs and of Islam". After the fall of the Nimeiry regime, Darfur will become the main transit route of Libya for war materiel passing to the fronts and rebels in Chad. Many Baggara fighters who served in the Islamic Legion and who used to cross the Chad–Sudan border returned to their lands with military experience, radicalized and armed to the teeth, ready to face the Furs and the Regional Government. At the end of May 1989, a peace conference will take place in al-Fashir, chaired by Governor Tijani Sese. The peace process took place throughout the middle of 1989, even in the midst of the 30 June coup. Finally on 8 July 110 Furs representatives, 110 Arabs, and 21 mediators signed a Reconciliation Agreement. Under this agreement, the Arab and Furs militias pledged to lay down their arms and disband in a process overseen by the government, then under a newly created
military junta A military junta () is a system of government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''Junta (governing body), junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the Junta (Peninsular War), national and local junta organized by t ...
. This meant the dissolution of Tajammu al-Arabi, but not the end of the conflict or the fighting. Many fighters from Tajammu al-Arabi and other militias did not accept the peace process and reorganized as fighters into new paramilitary groups known as janjaweed.


References


See also

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Janjaweed The Janjaweed () are an Sudanese Arabs, Arab nomad militia group operating in the Sahel, Sahel region, specifically in Sudan, particularly in Darfur and eastern Chad. They have also been speculated to be active in Yemen. According to the United ...
*
War in Darfur The War in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, was a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equalit ...
*
Second Sudanese Civil War The Second Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1983 to 2005 between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement, Sudan People's Liberation Army. It was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil Wa ...
{{Sudan topics War in Darfur Arab nationalism in Sudan Rebel groups in Sudan Paramilitary organisations based in Sudan Politics of Sudan Racism in Chad Muammar Gaddafi Racism in Sudan Pro-government militia in Sudan