The Hawazma tribal leader Hamad Daud appealed yesterday to the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), the Darfuri rebels fighting the Khartoum regime, to release four Hawazma tribesmen captured in South Kordofan in July.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj Daud called upon the JEM command to set free four Hawazma members captured on the Dilling to Dibebat road on 27 July. He also said that they should be released “for humanitarian reasons”.

“They were captured together with another seven people from different tribes when they joined a militia fighting alongside the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF),” the Traditional leader said.

The captured were identified as Ahmed Hamad Daud, Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed, Alsherif Mohamed and Bushara Abdullah Abdulrahman.

Confrontations between the SAF and JEM occurred on last July. At the time, the rebels announced capture of military equipment as well as inflicting heavy casualties on the SAF and its allies.