Policies, economics turned Muslims against Muslims in Darfur

[gottaB]

MOSBAT, Sudan - (KRT) - Shrapnel holes pock the green and white mosque of this battered village. Its black African residents had practiced Islam for generations, but in the eyes of their Arab attackers they weren't true Muslims.

Islam once was the glue that held everyone together in the western Sudan region of Darfur, but African Muslims now speak of the desecration of mosques; the burning of Qurans, Islam's holy book; and the murders of religious leaders.

Human rights groups and diplomats say the attacks on black African Muslims by the pro-government Arab militias, called Janjaweed, add weight to allegations that genocide is occurring in Darfur. Under international law, genocide is defined as intent to destroy, in whole or in part, an ethnic, racial or religious group.

What's striking here, though, is that both victims and killers are Muslims, from the same Sunni sect, who intermarried for generations, who prayed in the same mosques.

Policies, economics turned Muslims against Muslims in Darfur....