Musa Hilal

Background Musa was born in 1961, belonging to the Mahamid section of northern Rizayqat confederation. His father, Hilal Muhammad Abdallah, had during a long sheikh-ship sought increased influence by welcoming from Chad other Rizayqat tribesmen, a policy pursued also by his rival for tribal leadership, Shaykh Adud Hassaballah of the Mahariya branch.

Hilal is the nazir of a camel-herding Um Jalul clan in North Darfur. As of 2004, he had three wives and 13 children. Witnesses described Hilal as coordinating attacks on civilians in Darfur, including killings, sexual violence and the burning of villages. One witness described Hilal's leading role during the February 2004 attack on Tawila, which led to 75 deaths and over 100 women being raped. A former recruit from a Janjaweed training camp also alleged that Hilal had encouraged hostility towards Black African groups and had personally led fighters in combat.

Musa also claims that actions by the Janjaweed are organized and directed from the federal government in Khartoum under Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. In a video interview with Human Rights Watch, Musa Hilal stated that the attacks by the militia were directly ordered by the Sudanese government, and noted that "all of the people in the field are led by top army commanders…These people get their orders from the Western command center, and from Khartoum."

According to noted Sudan scholar Alex de Waal, "Mr. Hilal's claim that he has no control over any militia does not bear scrutiny... He is at the center of all of this." In letters to government officials and other tribal leaders, Sheikh Musa Hilal has repeatedly said his fighters are engaged in a jihad, or holy war, and will not disarm even if the government demands it. "We will not retreat," he wrote in one such letter in 2004 to the leaders in Khartoum, "we continue on the road of jihad."

After his release Musa Hilal settled in Kebkabiya, where he supposedly organized a meeting to recruit Arab tribesmen from Awlad Rashid, Ireqat and Um Jalul. He is the leader of the Um Jalul tribe, which plays a major role in the attacks in Darfur. He has been named by victims, witnesses of the attacks, and member of the armed force, as second in command of the Janjaweed militias, "border intelligence brigade," in Misteriya. In 2006, the United Nations imposed travel and financial bans on Musa Hilal.

On 27 February 2008, Mr. Reeves reported the destruction of 30 villages, the assassination of 200 people, the rape of over 200 girls and women, and the kidnapping of 150 women and 200 children.

Influence in Chad In December 2011 it was reported that Musa's daughter, Amani Musa, was going to marry the president of Chad, Idriss Deby. The two were married on 21 January 2012.