A Catastrophic Skewer for All
By Moatasim Aqra‘
The alliance between the Janjaweed and a significant faction of Sudan’s civilian political forces has long resembled a strange, hellish marriage. Such a union once seemed highly improbable: by their very nature, the Janjaweed despise, distrust, and hold all civilian forces in contempt. Conversely, civilian groups spent many years marketing the Janjaweed’s crimes in Western forums—back when the militia served as the guard dog of Bashir’s regime.
Why, then, did these two opposites consent to marriage despite their fundamentally incompatible natures? The answer is straightforward: a wealthy godfather brokered the union and bribed both sides into entering this ill-fated arrangement.
What was the outcome of this illicit marriage?
The civilian forces proved a curse to the Janjaweed, dragging them into costly crises that now threaten their very survival, largely due to the civilians’ lack of competence. On the other hand, the Janjaweed severely tarnished the reputation of the civilian forces and destroyed their political credibility, stripping them of the most vital asset any political group can possess.
Today, the wealthy godfather finds himself in serious trouble as a result of orchestrating this Sudanese scandal. Beyond the damage to his reputation, he now faces grave and unforeseen repercussions that are harming his investments in regions outside Sudan.
Everyone has failed—ending up like the bribe-giver, the bribe-taker, and the intermediary who moves between them. In Islamic tradition, the intermediary is the broker who facilitates the transaction between the briber and the bribed. In a well-known prophetic saying, the Messenger of God—peace and blessings be upon him—cursed the bribe-giver, the bribe-taker, and the intermediary alike.
