Sudan’s Bashir skeptical over talks with Darfur rebels
September 21, 2007 (CAIRO, Egypt) — Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir expressed doubts over the chances of success for the upcoming negotiations between the government and rebel forces in Darfur because of the many competing guerrilla factions, he said in a television interview Friday.
“It is possible there will be a problem to be confronted over the upcoming negotiations because the factions attending the upcoming talks in Tripoli of course do not represent the armed groups in Darfur,” he said.
“Some of them are armed bandits that have given themselves a political dimension but they are still looting and stealing and they could be the ones attacking the humanitarian aid groups in Darfur,” he added.
More than 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been displaced in the Darfur conflict between ethnic African rebels and pro-government janjaweed militia since a rebellion broke out in 2003. The U.S. and international rights groups have condemned the killings as a genocide.
Al-Bashir, however, dismissed the U.N. reports over the situation maintaining that people working for these organizations are biased and have their own anti-Sudanese agenda.
“We are not accusing the (U.N.) organizations themselves, but large numbers of their employees are members of intelligence organizations and all the reports written about Darfur were fabricated and carry no truth and designed to attack the Sudanese government,” he said.
Earlier this month, al-Bashir and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced comprehensive negotiations between the government and rebels in Tripoli on Oct. 27 to settle the long-running conflict.
The Sudanese leader subsequently promised a cease-fire, but fighting has continued to rage across the vast France-sized region.
Al-Bashir went on to deny that the massacres described in press reports and by international observers and rights organizations were taking place, maintaining that the press were being paid off.
“If you’ve noticed, all the people and organizations leading the charge against Sudan and support the so-called Darfur case, you will find out they are 100 percent Jewish groups.”
Al-Bashir maintained that the rather than being the scene of war crimes, Darfur was just home to a typical conflict between tribes over diminishing resources in the wake of a long drought.
“Everything being said over Darfur’s mass annihilation and mass rape are lies,” he said, adding that the Sudanese government had a right to defend itself against rebels.
“In any spot in the world, any party that points weapons at the government is considered a terrorist group, but in Sudan, any group that point weapons at the government is seen as a rightful, oppressed group, and the government is wrong and not allowed to fight it,” he said sarcastically.
Al-Bashir’s comments come after a period of improved relations with the U.N. and the world community, following the president’s agreement to host a 26,000-strong U.N.-African Union force to stem the violence and also meet with the rebel factions in Libya.
(AP)