AP: Janjaweed Says Sudan Government Pays Them

The Sudanese government describes its allies in Darfur as militias hastily organized to defend against rebels. The fighters known as Janjaweed, it says, are renegades and bandits, and it has no ties to those men.

But international organizations and the victims of the violence say the fighters in Mistiria are the Janjaweed.

The fighters in Mistiria said Tuesday they have close ties to the government — in coordination, sympathies and the salaries of about $20 a month they collect.

"The government called on us to defend our land, and the tribes responded," said fighter Ina Saleh, a member of the Arab Rizigat tribe, wearing a uniform with no marks or name tag. "We responded, like the other tribes."

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None of the fighters identify themselves as Janjaweed. The term is used by the international community for some of the Arab militia fighters, including Hilal's, but is seen here as an insult, reserved for bandits before Darfur's conflict began.

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On Tuesday, men identifying themselves as members of the Border Intelligence group lolled in the shade of an open-sided shelter at the brigade's headquarters, while their leaders met with the cease-fire monitors.

A handful of the fighters interviewed under scrutiny of their field commanders and Sudanese military officers variously said they were part of civil patrols, known as mujahedeen — holy warriors — or part of the regular military.

The men and their officers said they were supplied and paid by the central government, but some, like fighter Mohamed Hamdan, could not identify their commanders in the military.

Hamdan contradicted himself repeatedly about when he joined his unit; he and Saleh both initially gave dates years in advance of Darfur's conflict.

Both eventually said, however, that they took up arms in response to a government call to fight in 2003, when Darfur's rebel groups rose up.

"The government called us to defend," said Hamdan, a member of the Arab Mahmeed tribe.

As he spoke, men identifying themselves as members of the division strolled the town's weekly market, where camels for sale crowded together.

Their local leader, Sgt. Abdul Waheed Saeed, stood among the stalls, answering journalists' questions about whether he and his men feared international prosecution as accused Janjaweed.

"If I'm given to the court, I'll be given with all the government," Saeed said. "Because we are all doing this together."