Sudan defense minister offers to step down: blames US sanctions

May 13, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese defense minister Abdel-Rahim Mohamed Hussein came under fire from lawmakers who accused the army of negligence in dealing with rebels advance into the capital last weekend.

Hussein, along with the interior minister, was subpoenaed by the Sudanese parliament for a closed session who grilled him on the handling by the military of the assault by the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

Sudan official news agency (SUNA) published a statement attributed to the parliament calling for the establishment of a commission of inquiry into the attack.

The statement said the inquiry should include “the circumstances and reasons that enabled the forces of aggression to move across the desert from the Chadian borders into the city of Omdurman”.

The parliament called for an evaluation of the performance “state bodies and security apparatus in North Darfur and North Kordofan as well as the authorities in Khartoum state”.

Darfurian rebels staged a bold attack and fought fierce battles with the Sudanese army on the outskirts of the capital. However the Sudanese government said it repulsed the attack and accused Chad of backing the assault.

Al-Bashir said in a televised statement that he holds Chad responsible of the foiled attack by the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) troops against the Sudanese capital. He also announced that diplomatic relations with Chad have been broken.

The top military official told the parliament that 93 soldiers and 13 policemen died in the fighting. He also said that 30 civilians were killed including 2 Egyptians and 2 Senegalese nationals caught in cross fire.

Hussein said the rebel column consisting of 309 vehicles was intercepted since they moved from Chad after they were allegedly addressed by President Idriss Deby.

Last Thursday the Sudanese army issued statement late Thursday saying that it received information on “preparations made by rebel Khalil Ibrahim to conduct sabotage attempt and a publicity stunt through infiltrating the capital and other towns”.

The defense minister said the Sudanese armed forces “used all conventional military protocols in dealing with the assailants” and said that any inquiry into the events will reveal that they have achieved a great military victory “given the current capabilities”.

But not all Sudanese lawmakers were satisfied with the explanation provided by Hussein.

The daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat published in London quoted one of the parliamentarians as demanding the resignation of Hussein along with minister of interior and the director of Sudan security and intelligence bureau.

“They said the rebels were intercepted before they got here. Why did they not confront them in a serious manner?” one of the parliamentarians named Osman Nimr asked the defense minister.

In response to the fierce criticism Hussein blamed the US sanctions imposed on his country since 1997 for hindering the development of the Sudanese army.

“We are using fighter jets dating back to the Second World War” he said and pointed out that the air force is lacking surveillance and reconnaissance planes.

The remarks come in short contrast to Hussein’s assertions last year that Sudan has made huge advancements in military manufacturing.

“We are the number three country in Africa as far as manufacturing military equipments after Egypt and South Africa” he said last September.

Hussein further said that Sudan is self sufficient in conventional weapons and is also in the process of developing missiles and unmanned surveillance planes.

The Sudanese army is a 100,000-member army supported by a small air force and navy. Recently Sudan has signed arm deals with China and Russia to modernize its air force.

The defense minister said reiterated that his forces are going after JEM chief Khalil Ibrahim in the deserts and routes leading to the Chadian borders.

But in a telephone interview with the Associated Press on Monday, Ibrahim vowed to keep up his offensive, saying he can exhaust the army by fighting it across Africa’s largest nation. He said he was in Omdurman with his troops.

The government doubled its bounty for Ibrahim on Tuesday to nearly $250,000 for anyone contributing to the rebel leader’s arrest. The reward was previously misreported in world media as being $250,000,000.

(ST)