Sudanese Islamist calls on president Bashir to resign

December 5, 2010 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir should step down in light of the isolation imposed on him because of the charges leveled by the International Criminal Court (ICC), an Islamist political analyst said in an op-ed today.

The Sudanese leader is wanted Bashir is wanted by the ICC on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity he allegedly orchestrated in Darfur.

Al-Tayeb Zain al-Abdeen, who is a professor of Political Science at the University of Khartoum, was reacting to Bashir’s cancelled appearance at two events this week in Libya and the Central African Republic (CAR).

Libya asked Bashir to stay away from the 3rd Africa-European Union summit in Tripoli after the European bloc threatened a mass walkout should the Sudanese leader show up. The Sudanese government issued a strongly worded statement afterwards slamming the EU’s “hypocrisy” and implicitly criticizing Libya for succumbing to European pressure.

Khartoum boycotted the summit altogether at all levels and the Sudanese foreign minister Ali Karti was instructed to return from Tripoli during a ministerial meeting he was attending.

Also on Wednesday, Bashir cancelled his trip to Bangui for CAR’s Golden Jubilee Independence Day celebrations after France pressed its former colony to rescind its invitation.

“My belief is that Libya did not err at all and adopted a wise political position that was to be taken by any country that wants to coexist with the major powers of our times and play a role in the international or regional arena. I do not think that there is one country in this world that wants to enter into a confrontation with the European Union of for the sake of Sudan,” al-Abdeen said in his Op-ed published in Sunday’s edition of the independent Al-Sahafa daily newspaper.

“What Libya has done was done before by Kenya when it declined to host the meeting of [Inter-Governmental Authority for Development] IGAD countries, in order to avoid inviting Bashir after being scolded [last August] by European countries for receiving al-Bashir in its celebration of the new Constitution and was moved to Addis Ababa. A few days ago the Central African Republic followed suit when it backed from inviting president Bashir to attend the celebration of National Day on the first of December after the arrival of Sudan’s advance team to organize the reception,” he added.

Al-Abdeen noted that Sudan itself has agreed to receive a delegation from the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) last October despite public statements made by its members that they do not wish to meet with Bashir.

“It is better for the government of the Sudan to accustom itself with this bitter political reality which is that Western nations are determined to boycott President al-Bashir at all international forums and is capable of forcing most of the world nations to isolate al-Bashir out of these platforms. This is a fact which is harmful to Sudan’s political and economic interests,” he wrote in his daring assessment.

He called on Khartoum to seek a resolution of the Darfur war crimes issues by applying justice on suspects through the hybrid courts proposed by former South African president Thabo Mbeki or through truth and reconciliation commissions. The government should also work for a comprehensive resolution of the Darfur conflict with the participation of all political parties and civil society groups.

But the Sudanese president who held the post for over 21 years must take an extra step and call it quits for the sake of the country, al-Abdeen said.

“President Al-Bashir must sacrifice himself for the sake of the nation to save it from existing and projected sanctions by stepping down from power and to establish a national transitional situation before holding new elections in the North agreed upon between the political forces after a period of stabilized conditions” he concluded.

The statements by the veteran and widely respected Islamist figure will likely anger Bashir’s National Congress Party (NCP) which has asserted that they have no intention of letting their leader resign.

Al-Abdeen has long been critical of the Islamist movement particularly for carrying out the 1989 coup and oppressive measures they undertook since coming power. He was the head of the Islamic Shura Council for the National Islamic Front (NIF) which was the ideological mastermind behind the coup.

The Council was dissolved in 1990 after the NIF leader Hassan Al-Turabi believed there was no need for it after the group took control of the state.

Al-Abdeen still maintains personal relations with senior members of the government.

(ST)