Qatar stoking tensions in Darfur

Ali Rajab

The western region of Darfur makes up 20% of the Sudan’s land space, about 250,000 square kilometers.

The region contains three states and is inhabited by 7.5 million people. It shares borders with Libya, Chad and the Central African Republic.

Nonetheless, this region pays dearly for the terrorism funded by Qatar.

Terrorism

Qatar stokes tensions in the region by offering support to militias active in it. Qatari military support to these militias is always given a humanitarian cover. Apart from backing the militias, Qatar also works to sabotage the peace process in the resource-rich region.

Sudanese authorities were stunned in January when they discovered that a recent shipment of Qatari medical aid was nothing more than military equipment that should have gone to Libya. The discovery instigated massive anger in Sudan.

Dagger

Darfur is of strategic importance for Qatar. The tiny Gulf state apparently wants to use the region as a pressure card on the transitional government in Sudan.

Qatar succeeded in protracting the Darfur conflict in the past years. This opened the door for intervention by the African Union.

On January 29, the United Nations refugee agency said the conflict in Darfur had caused the displacement of more than 57,000 people, including 11,000 who had crossed the border into Chad.

These people had fled soon after the eruption of fighting between Arabs and non-Arabs in the western part of Darfur. The fighting left 36 people dead, including women and children, and 60 others injured.

Sudanese political analyst Abdullah Idriss, said Qatar had failed in convincing Darfur militias to join the peace agreement of May 2011.

Threat

Darfur’s location gives Qatar a good chance to turn it into a security threat for neighboring countries.

This is particularly so in the presence of links between Doha and militant groups active in Libya, Chad and the Central African Republic.

Qatar also offers support to the Chadian opposition as well as a wide range of militant groups in the same country.