Sudan, rebel groups condemn Paris terror attack
January 8, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese government and rebel groups have strongly condemned the deadly attack on French weekly satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, saying they stand with the French people against terrorism.
The terrorist operation raised a wave of condemnation across the world, including the Islamic countries which emphasised that depiction of the prophet, does not justify the cowardly crime by the extremists.
In Khartoum, the deputy head of bilateral relations department at the foreign ministry, Ambassador Abdel Basit al Sanosi, paid his respects at the French Embassy where he signed a condolence book on Thursday.
Al Sanosi transmitted his government’s condolences to French Ambassador Bruno Aubert and said that Paris attack has nothing to do with Islam.
The Sudanese diplomat said such terrorist attacks are the result of political tensions in the Middle East, and called for concerted international efforts to resolve these problems.
According to the French authorities one of the two brothers suspected of being the assailants, Said Kouachi, was in Yemen in 2011 for a number of months training with Al Qaeda camps. Also experts pointed to a possible links with the Islamic State which welcomed the attack.
Three Sudanese rebel groups members of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) paid respect for the victims of Wednesday’s terror attack in Paris and expressed their solidarity with the French people.
“We extend our condolences to the families of the victims and to the French nation. We express our solidarity with them and with all those who work for peace,” Malik Agar, the leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), said in a statement written in French language.
Abdel Wahdi al-Nur, the leader of a Sudan Liberation Movement faction (SLM-AW), also condemned the “savage and barbaric terrorist attack” and called for a joint European action against terror groups saying it represents “a threat to international peace”.
The leader of the other SLM faction Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM) expressed his “warm condolences to the people of France and the families of the victims of the traumatic barbaric assault”. He further reaffirmed the group’s rejection of terrorism “whatever its source”.
The French police on Thursday launched a house to house search operation in a forested area 70km north of the capital Paris where the two fugitives were reportedly seen.
(ST)