{"id":33091,"date":"2017-03-09T07:57:37","date_gmt":"2017-03-09T07:57:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/sudan-s-omar-al-bashir-pardons-259-rebels\/"},"modified":"2017-03-09T07:57:34","modified_gmt":"2017-03-09T07:57:34","slug":"sudan-s-omar-al-bashir-pardons-259-rebels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/sudan-s-omar-al-bashir-pardons-259-rebels\/","title":{"rendered":"Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir pardons 259 rebels"},"content":{"rendered":"

{Move comes after insurgents released 125 soldiers who fought in Darfur conflict that killed 300,000 people since 2003.}<\/p>\n

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Wednesday pardoned 259 rebels captured in fighting with government forces, including dozens who had been sentenced to death. <\/p>\n

Bashir’s order came three days after a prominent insurgent group freed dozens of prisoners, mostly soldiers, it had captured in fighting with government forces. <\/p>\n

“The decision to pardon 259 rebels aims at preparing the environment for achieving lasting peace in the country,” Bashir’s office said in a statement. <\/p>\n

Those pardoned include 66 rebels who had been sentenced to death.<\/p>\n

Of the 259 rebels to be released now, dozens were captured in 2015 after fierce fighting in war-torn South Darfur between government forces and rebels. <\/p>\n

Although the presidency did not specify which group these rebels belonged to, government forces in 2015 fought pitched battles with the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in South Darfur. <\/p>\n

Forty-four rebels also among those pardoned were captured in the city of Omdurman in 2008 after similar clashes between government forces and JEM fighters. <\/p>\n

“The decision to pardon is a progressive step and would help in the ceasing of hostilities,” Nur Ahmed al-Nur, editor-in-chief of Assayha newspaper, told AFP news agency. <\/p>\n

On Sunday, another prominent rebel group, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), freed at least 125 prisoners, mostly soldiers. <\/p>\n

The prisoners had been captured in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states, where the SPLM-N has been fighting government forces for years. <\/p>\n

Sudanese rebel group releases 127 prisoners<\/p>\n

The conflict in Darfur, a region the size of France, erupted in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against Bashir’s Arab-dominated government in Khartoum, accusing it of marginalising the region economically and politically. <\/p>\n

At least 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur and another 2.5 million displaced since the conflict erupted, the United Nations says. <\/p>\n

In 2011, similar rebellions against Bashir’s regime also broke out in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states. <\/p>\n

Khartoum announced a unilateral ceasefire in June 2016 in all three conflict zones, which it extended by six months in January. <\/p>\n

Bashir, who has ruled Sudan for nearly three decades, is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Darfur. He steadfastly denies the charge.<\/p>\n

\"More<\/figure>\n

Source:Al Jazeera<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{Move comes after insurgents released 125 soldiers who fought in Darfur conflict that killed 300,000 people since 2003.} Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Wednesday pardoned 259 rebels captured in fighting with government forces, including dozens who had been sentenced to death. Bashir’s order came three days after a prominent insurgent group freed dozens of prisoners, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[100],"byline":[160],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-33091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-africa","byline-theophile-niyitegeka"],"bylines":[{"id":160,"name":"Th\u00e9ophile Niyitegeka","slug":"theophile-niyitegeka","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":3}],"contributors":[{"id":160,"name":"Th\u00e9ophile Niyitegeka","slug":"theophile-niyitegeka","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":3}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33091\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33091"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=33091"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=33091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}