Bahr Abu Garda, the leader of Libration and Justice Movement in Sudan’s violence torn Darfur region, made headline news in February when International Criminal Court judges dismissed allegations that he organised deadly attacks against international peacekeepers.

By Ibrahim Jadelkarim

The ICC said there was insufficient evidence to take Garda to court for the attacks against the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS), a peace-keeping mission stationed at Haskanita, Darfur, which killed 12 people in September 2007.

Garda’s voluntary surrender to the ICC prosecutor was portrayed in Khartoum as a political theatre and conspiracy to exert pressure and embarrass the government of Sudan. Abu Garda categorically denied any such intentions, and reiterated that he surrendered to the ICC to clear his name.

Currently the pre-trial hearings are ongoing at the ICC against two Darfur rebel leaders, Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain and Saleh Mohammed Jarbo, for the same AMIS attack.

This month, Abu Garda came back to the Hague to take part in a conference on the future of the conflict in Darfur. In an interview with RNW, Garda reviewed his ICC case, the Darfur peace talks and Egypt’s role in it, and the seriousness of the Sudanese government in reaching a lasting solution for peace in Darfur.