At dawn the day before they had skirted the town of Kutum without entering, then travelled nine hours without stopping. Fakhreddine wanted to leave Darfur and cross the Egyptian border as soon as possible.
-The Egyptian Assassin, Ezzedine Fishere
When KhairAllah spoke to the camera, saying, “I am known wherever I go…Kutum, Nyala, Mileet”, it was a bit like Larry Bird saying, “I am known wherever I go…French Lick, Pumpkin Center, Hindostan Falls.” If you are a three-time MVP and a twelve-time All Star, of course people recognize you in all the small towns back home. Same with KhairAllah, who had ridden the Darb too many times to remember and was the most trusted Khabīr of Sudan’s most wealthy camel merchant. Thus KhairAllah never skirted Kutum if he had the chance to enter and receive its many Salāms, Bismillahs, and Marhabans, no matter how eager he was to get to Egypt.
