Sudan opposition leader calls on Bashir to come right with his people
By Wasil Ali
August 19, 2008 (WASHINGTON) – A Sudanese opposition leader urged President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir to “reconcile with his people” in order to deflect a possible arrest warrant for him by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Al-Fadil also dismissed an initiative known as ‘People of Sudan’ that was launched by Al-Bashir during his tour of Darfur in July.
The Sudanese head of state invited all political forces and the Darfuri figures, including the non-signatories rebels, to take part in it.
But Al-Fadil voiced skepticism about Khartoum’s commitment to negotiating a peaceful settlement in Darfur.
“The format of this new initiative is similar to what we have seen in the past. There is much media coverage without a political will on the part of the NCP or real solutions on the table” Al-Fadil said.
“In 2004 Al-Bashir formed a committee headed by Izz Al-Deen Al-Sayed to propose solutions for the Darfur conflict and it incorporated a number of political parties. By the time the committee was disbanded there were over 1,000 figures members in it” he added.
The ICC’s prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo announced in mid-July that he requested an arrest warrant against Al-Bashir.
Ocampo filed 10 charges: three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder. Judges are expected to take months to study the evidence before deciding whether to order Al-Bashir’s arrest.
Following the ICC’s move Sudan has been looking into steps that could be taken to block Al-Bashir’s indictment.
On the judicial side the government pledged to conduct national proceedings against Darfur suspects. On the political front, Khartoum would bolster efforts to negotiate a political solution with Darfur rebels.
Earlier this month the Sudanese justice minister Abdel-Basit Sabdarat named Nimr Ibrahim Mohamed as a special prosecutor to look into rights abuses committed in war ravaged region of Darfur since 2003.
Al-Fadil said Western diplomats told him that Nimr has been appointed a few years back by the government to investigate the Darfur crimes.
“No one will take the local courts seriously in its current form. The judiciary is heavily influenced by the government. Figures chosen for Darfur special courts should be the ones who were removed from office who are very qualified to handle these kinds of cases” the opposition leader said.
“We are now witnessing trials for Justice and Equality (JEM) members. The defense lawyers filed an appeal with the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of these antiterrorism courts. The judge was supposed to suspend trials until the Supreme Court makes a ruling. He overruled the law. They did the same thing with me last year in the alleged coup attempt. I was detained for 5 months without charges when the law says they can’t keep beyond 18 days” he added.
The head of the UN mission in Sudan (UNMIS), Ashraf Qazi described the special courts formed to try those alleged to have been involved in a May’s attack by JEM on the capital as unconstitutional. The statements drew fire from Sudanese officials.
Al-Fadil proposed creating a national unity government that brings other political powers into the decision making process.
“The NCP’s share in the government per the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) needs to be allocated among other political parties not simply in terms of percentages but empowering them to deal with Sudan’s problems collectively with the ruling party” he said.
“Even though there is a government of national unity, the NCP is ignoring the SPLM when it makes decisions. Because of this you effectively have two governments. We need a government that would prepare the country for elections and work on resolving the Darfur crisis” Al-Fadil added.
He suggested a Doha style agreement between Lebeanese parties last May.
The former Sudanese official stressed that the NCP is a part of the problem in Darfur and therefore has to let other political forces broker a settlement.
“You cannot have a committee on Darfur headed by Al-Bashir coming up with recommendations and then send them to the NCP dominated government. Whoever created the problem cannot be the one coming up with the solution. This doesn’t make any sense” he said.
Al-Fadil was appointed as presidential adviser for economic affairs in 2002 before getting sacked by Al-Bashir two years later after receiving an invitation to visit the US as head of the Umma Reform and Renewal party.
The invitation angered the Sudanese president who saw a pattern of him acting in his own capacity without consultation.
The opposition leader has been critical of the Sudanese government particularly in dealing with the conflict in the war ravaged region of Darfur. He was arrested last year for his role in an alleged coup attempt before being released five months later for lack of evidence.
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Moses Kur Akech
Sudan opposition leader calls on Bashir to come right with his people
There is no doubt that the Bashir’s regime has been running the country in anarchic atmosphere where rule of law based on the harshest bureaucracies they enacted themselves.
With the indictment in effect I think Bashir will soon have no more options than to resign like his fellow dictator General Musharraf of Pakistan. I think the looming criticism from opponents who have been subject to abuses of Bashir’s government will not longer leave him in power for 5 more years if he claims victory next year.
Freedom Fighter
Sudan opposition leader calls on Bashir to come right with his people
Mr. Al-Fadil, who gave you the right to talk for all Sudanese. The time now is not for reconciliation with Al-bashir, but for accountability and justice to proceed. Al-bashir crimes against the country of Sudan and its people are too big to be pardoned. He must go to hell