Darfur women fighters negotiate for first time
By Opheera McDoom

December 2, 2005 - (Reuters) Darfuri rebel commander Mariam Abdallah saw her husband murdered in front of her and took to arms dealing to look after the 15 children in her care before joining a revolt to fight the government she says is racist.

Abdallah, nicknamed "mother of the army", was one of the first women to fight in Darfur's main rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA). Now, she is in the Nigerian capital Abuja where three female commanders are for the first time participating in African Union-sponsored peace talks.

"We were about to take up arms to revolt against the men to gain our place at the talks," the 55-year-old woman told Reuters in an interview.

"Women have suffered so much in this war -- we want this peace so we can go back to being mothers and wives rather than fighters."

She said a recent rebel congress in Darfur finally gave the 215 women SLA fighters a voice in the movement.

Abdallah, from the non-Arab Fur tribe, said her life changed when President Omar Hassan al-Bashir took power in a military coup in 1989. Security forces came early one morning and killed her husband, a religious leader, after he refused to give government-approved speeches during prayers.

"I heard my son screaming 'Daddy, Daddy' and ran out to find my husband murdered on the floor, blood pouring out from his head which they had split open with a machete," she said, tears streaming down her face. She fell silent and her eyes darkened as the memories came flooding back.

"I felt my whole life had died with him -- I had 15 children in my care and no way to look after them," she finally stuttered.

Abdallah then tried many jobs like selling tea, but authorities kept chasing her off the streets. Finally through a relative high up in the army, she arranged a meeting with Bashir himself.

"He cried when he listened to me and offered to educate my children," she said. "But his hands were dirty with the blood of my husband so I told him I didn't want anything from him."

Gun Running

She then took to buying guns from the armed forces and selling them onto cattle herders to feed her children. But she always felt the Arab-dominated government was racist.

"They wanted to remove the blacks from the lands of Darfur," she said. There were no schools or hospitals there. They armed looters who terrorised the roads, she added.

In 2001, she joined a group of Darfuris who were mobilising in Khartoum and left with 12 men to join a military training camp in the central, mountainous Darfur region of Jabel Marra.

"I could only train for 45 days because I was too fat to do any more," she said laughing. "But I have fought in 17 battles," she said proudly.

Abdallah showed scars from when she was beaten almost to death when captured by government troops in late 2002. After more than a year of treatment, she still could not hold a weapon.

"But I would sing and recite poetry to the fighters during battle," she said.

Abdallah wears a black hat which she says embodies the sadness of war, wrapped in beads to represent the hope of peace. While war continues, she tucks a red towel into the brim of the hat to symbolise the blood she is prepared to shed.

"The most important thing is they disarm the Janjaweed so we can go home," she said, referring to proxy militias armed by the government to fight the rebels.

The United States has called the violence in Darfur genocide and holds the Janjaweed and government responsible.

Khartoum denies the charge, but with tens of thousands killed and more than 2 million forced to flee their homes, the International Criminal Court is investigating war crimes.

Abdallah is a delegate at informal talks in Abuja on security arrangements. When asked about peace, she burst into song in a high-pitched voice.

"We have lost our husbands, sons and homes and live under the trees with only the sky as shelter," she sang. "We need this peace so we can become women again."

From: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L02347054.htm