Darfur to be “invaders’ graveyard” – Sudan defence minister

Nov 16, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan warned on Thursday that the dreadful consequence of a deployment of international peace keepers in the country’s Darfur region in defiance of the country’s objection, saying Darfur would be a “graveyard for invaders.”

While addressing officers and soldiers of the western military area in Niyala, south Darfur, Sudanese Defence Minister Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein said that “Darfur will be the invaders’ graveyard if the (United Nations) Security Council thinks about implementing Resolution 1706,” the official SUNA news agency reported.

The defense minister stressed the capability of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) to impose the security and defend the nation and its citizens, adding that the slogan of the SAF in Darfur was to “wipe out the rebellion and spread the dignity of the country”.

He said that Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir was confident of the command of the SAF and its ability to carry out its duties without making pretexts for foreign interference.

The Sudanese defense minister made the remarks on the same day that the African Union (AU) and the UN were holding a joint meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to reconsider the best way of terminating the bloody conflicts in Darfur.

The UN Security Council passed a resolution 1706 on Aug. 31calling for the deployment of more than 20,000 international peacekeepers to replace the 7,800 AU forces in Darfur.

But the Sudanese government has rejected the mission transfer, saying it was a violation of Sudan’s sovereignty and an effort by the West to colonize the African oil producing country.

The AU Peace and Security Council agreed in September to extend the mandate of its forces in Darfur to the end of this year with the helps to be provided by the UN and the international societies.

(Xinhua)