Defence minister says Sudan will fight foreign intervention
April 21, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan’s Minister of Defence threatened to fight United States and other western powers if they decide unilaterally to send forces into Sudan. The army will prevent them from turning the country into another Iraq, he said.
Speaking to the Dubai based Gulf News yesterday evening at his office, Hussain said because of the tremendous potential of a united Sudan which is rich in natural resources, and of late has struck vast quantities of oil reserves, attracting foreign investments from China, Malaysia, India among others, “the United States, European countries and Israel want to destroy and divide Sudan [into] five countries – an independent Darfur, the South, the East, the Nubian State and Central Sudan”.
The reason, he said: “They think we don’t deserve this potential.”
‘False case of crisis’
On the pretext of a “humanitarian” crisis in Darfur, he said these countries are trying to create a situation similar to the one that was created before the invasion of Iraq on the false premise that the Iraqi regime was manufacturing weapons of mass destruction. “Have they found those weapons and what have they done to Iraq now?” he asked.
Hussain said Sudan is bound by the terms of the Security and Peace Council of the African Union (AU) and as per AU, it has fulfilled all its obligations signed under the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA).
“In DPA, there is no provision for UN forces, but despite that we have agreed to allow a limited number of UN military helicopters and troops under the command of the AU forces.
“When we met these conditions – the so-called first stage and second stage – and when China, South Africa, Qatar and Congo told the West that they should welcome what Sudan has done, the United States and Britain have come out with another conspiracy – a third stage.”
According to him, what is now required is funding for the AU troops, and not American rhetoric about the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
There are a number of African countries who are ready to send their troops to Sudan but cannot do so because of the lack of funds, he said.
‘Israeli interest’
When asked if the United States and its allies are trying to impose democracy in Sudan, the defence minister said democracy was not the issue, the issue is the resources. The other thing is the interest of the Israelis and the Zionists.
“They have an interest in South Sudan. Their interest is water and South Sudan has the potential to increase the water flow in the river Nile. We have five schemes in the south which can increase the water level.
“One of the states is Jungli – it alone can generate around 4 billion cubic metres of water. That is why the Jewish state wants an independent south so that the water from the south can flow through the river Nile and into Israel and so forth,” Hussain said.
He added that Sudan is aware of the Jewish conspiracy since 1955 when the first rebellion took place in the south and the group of rebels was trained in Israel under the supervision of the Mossad.
“Have they found those weapons and what have they done to Iraq now?”
Official denies violation of arms embargo
Sudan has denied UN accusations of violating a UN arms embargo by flying weapons into Darfur in breach of UN Security Council Resolutions, BBC said.
Sudan’s envoy to the UN, Abdul Mahmoud Abdul Haleem, said the allegations were “a lie” and that military assets were simply being moved around the country.
Abdul Mahmoud Abdul Haleem told the BBC: “According to the comprehensive peace agreement signed [after the civil war in the South] between the Sudanese government and SPLM, we have to move our military assets and aircraft and all assets from the South to other regions in the country.
“We are moving these military assets to their respective places. We are not using these aircraft for any military function in Darfur.”
But a New York Times journalist who has seen a leaked copy of the UN report said there is no doubt about the evidence.
“One thing is [clear with] pictures that appeared with the report that we actually published in the New York Times [yesterday],” Warren Hoge told the BBC World Service’s World Today programme.
“There are very clear pictures of planes painted white, and also with the UN designation on the left-hand wing of one of the planes. And also a good deal of testimony from the investigators who compiled the report.
“It’s the credibility of the United Nations versus the credibility of the Sudanese authorities – and I think on that basis the United Nations report looks pretty good.”
The report was compiled by a five-person panel for the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against Sudan.
(Gulf News)