Sudan denies military jet downed over Yemen
March 28, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has dismissed reports that one of its warplanes was downed in Yemen.
That day, Sudan’s information minister, Ahmed Bilal Osman, told Bloomberg that his country has put four aircraft under Saudi command and is prepared to deploy 6,000 troops against the Houthi rebels.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Saturday claimed to have shot down one of the planes and captured its Sudanese pilot during a bombing mission in the capital Sana’a.
Turkish news agency Anadolu quoted SAF spokesperson, Colonel al-Sawarmi Khaled Sa’ad on Saturday as saying “We deny this”, “These are untrue information and false claims by Houthi rebels.”
“No Sudanese jet has come under fire since the beginning of the military campaign against the Houthis late on Wednesday night”, he added.
Riyadh said that 10 countries are part of the coalition but military spokesperson of the campaign said that only Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates conducted air strikes in Yemen so far.
SUDAN REITERATES UNLIMITED SUPPORT
Meanwhile, Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir said in his statement before the Arab summit on Saturday that his country has been following Houthi’s attempts to obstruct Yemen’s national dialogue in a way that threatened the whole region and particularly the national security of Saudi Arabia.
“Sudan expresses unlimited support to the coalition supporting the legitimacy [in Yemen] and confirms its active participation on the ground amongst the coalition forces in order to maintain peace and stability in the region”, he said
He demanded that the summit issue a strong resolution in support of “Operation Decisive Strom” which aims to support the legitimate government in Yemen.
Bashir also underscored the need for stopping the bloodshed in Syria, pointing that his country demands increased efforts to end the sufferings of the Syrian people.
The Sudanese president also called for a political solution to the Libyan crisis, demanding formation of an inclusive national unity government in order to preserve the state and avoid anarchy.
He also expressed Sudan’s full solidarity with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the issue of the islands occupied by Iran, demanding the former to deal wisely with this issue.
The UAE’s three islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb have been occupied by Iran since 1971.
Bashir also said the threat of terrorism was one of the greatest ones that face the Arab nation, pointing to its impact on the security and stability in the region.
He said the phenomena must equally be confronted through political, security and
intellectual remedies, pointing to the need for engaging youth in projects that absorbs their energies and directs them for construction and building.
The 26th Arab Summit has convened on Saturday in Egypt’s coastal resort of Sharm El-Sheikh with the participation of fourteen heads of states.
(ST)