APCJ_1528_Win2010_00i_122_4 12/30/10 3:22 PM Page 102 102 AFRICA PEACE AND CONFLICT JOURNAL ment restored good relations between the two communal groups. In June 2006, they held a festival to celebrate their reconciliation.52 In another case of a grass-root initiative for inter-communal reconciliation, Arab pastoralists withdrew from lands they had occupied during the violence and allowed its original, displaced peasant owners, of African descent, to return to their farmland northeast of Nyala. The area had been inhabited by Dajo tribesmen, who practiced wadi and goz farming. In 2003 government-backed militia attacks forced the Dajo to abandon their farms and villages and seek shelter as displaced persons in camps on the outskirts of Nyala. The Messeriya, who claim Arab descent and live east of the Dajo, could not make traditional seasonal passages because armed movements had blocked their corridors. As a result, the Messeriya were confined to the land that the Dajo had fled, using it as pasture for their animals. In 2005 the Dajo traditional tribal leadership reached an agreement with the nazir of Messeriya that provided for the Dajo’s return to their homes. Displaced Dajo families and households wishing to return could contact the nazir, who would then instruct his people to vacate the land.53 Like many others, this is a case in which the Arab pastoralists had a vested interest in the peasant villagers’ being in their homes. Even if not yet fully realized in the big picture, the Dajos’ return meant restored markets, sources of grain, and other benefits of which the Messeriya had been deprived since desertion of the villages in 2003. Noting the ways in which the violence and the desertion of the Dajo villages had affected the pastoralists, one young Messeriya leader stressed in a noticeable expression of regret regarding past events that people should change their mindsets and respect each other; that achieving objectives through negotiations is better than war; and that in war no one wins.54 This realization of the extent to which the conflict had harmed both groups’ interests is widespread among leaders and ordinary people alike. Inter-communal grass-root reconciliation, even when driven by need and mutual interest, is supported by a long and revered Darfuri tradition of mediation and reconciliation.55 The judiyya culture, which leans towards reconciliation, is widely used in rural Sudan to settle differences and disputes. By its tradition, wise men and local leaders play the role of mediators to resolve conflicts. Even under the conditions of Darfur’s grand conflict, judiyya is still used among the displaced in camps and pastoralists in the countryside.56 The Fur mediation to resolve the Hotiyya-Nawaiba conflict is a case in point. Based mainly on negotiations, the judiyya indigenous mediation mechanism is often adopted to bridge a divide and reconcile conflicting parties at different local levels.57 This tradition of reconciliation, a characteristic feature of tribally diverse Darfur communities, has facilitated and supported grass-root initiatives and has contributed 52. Interview, Hashim Zakaria. Some active NGOs’ representatives attended the festivities. 53. Ibid. 54. Interview, Abdel Gadir Adam. 55. Adam Azzain and Khalid Ali El Amin, ‘Conflict prevention, management and resolution: Capacity assessment for IGAD’, Intergovernmental Authority on Development, Djibouti, 2001. 56. Interview, Shartai Yagoub; interview, Abdel Gadir Adam. 57. In resolving a conflict, mediators apply custom and appeal every source of wisdom to push the conflicting parties into reconciliation. Verses from the Quran, proverbs, and verses from poetry are sometimes cited to soften strongly held positions. The opponents might be reminded of intermarriage, blood relations, and friendly relations among their ancestors to induce a compromise.