JEM slams move to prosecute SPLM-N’s sec-gen
August 18, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – A rebel group from Sudan’s western region of Darfur has denounced the legal proceedings being instigated by the government against the secretary-general of the opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-Northern Sector (SPLM-N) Yasir Arman on the grounds of his alleged visit to Israel.
A local newspaper in Khartoum quoted sources as saying that the possible lawsuit is based on the classification of Israel as an enemy state and that any Sudanese citizen who travels there would face criminal charges. The sources added that Arman, who is currently in Nairobi, will be summoned to appear before the State Security Prosecution division. Should he not show up for questioning a warrant may be issued for him through Interpol.
The move is believed to presages a total ban on the activities of the SPLM-N in Sudan. The group’s fighters have been in conflict with Sudan’s military in the southern state of South Kordofan since early June.
Arman strongly denied the alleged visit, saying he has never visited the Jewish state. “The dissemination of these lies and allegations reflect a deep crisis experienced by the one-party regime in Khartoum, ” he said in an interview with the Cairo-based Al-Ahram newspaper.
The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), one of the rebel groups in Sudan’s western region of Darfur, on Thursday issued a press release chiding the “terror” campaign against Arman.
According to JEM’s secretary of external affairs, the regime of the National Congress Party (NCP) in Sudan had always been scurrying to establish ties with Israel because the party theorists believe this to be the shortest way to normalise their long-strained relations with the United States.
JEM’s secretary further alleged that some NCP officials had met with Israeli delegations in a number of countries which he declined to identify but said they include a country in southern Africa and another one in northwest Africa as well as some countries in Greater Syria.
He further said that his movement condemns in the strongest terms the campaign of political, ideological and religious terror waged by the Khartoum government against the SPLM-north and its secretary-general on the pretext of his fabricated visit to Israel.
Adam accused the NCP of orchestrating a campaign targeting Arman despite the fact that Arman had strongly denied he visited Israel. According to the rebels’ spokesman, the campaign reflects the political bankruptcy of the regime in Khartoum and their fear of the upcoming revolution in the marginalised peripheral areas of Sudan.
“I remind the regime that the era of ‘taboos’ in the Sudanese politics has gone. No one will frighten us with this old taboo any more. Israel is a reality in international politics and relations which enjoying the membership of the most of the regional and international organisations including, the UN” he said.
The JEM official said he would visit Israel himself if the opportunity arises to meet refugees from Darfur.
“I can’t see any problem to visit them in Israel at any time to exchange views with them on the future of our struggle and help resolving their problems if I could. It is my duty to reach them out and be in touch with them. To this end, if today, I received an invitation from them, I will visit them in Israel to be with them.”
Adam said the regime had forced many Sudanese to flee their country and seek refuge in Israel. “I seize this opportunity to commend and thank the Israeli authorities for receiving them. I also call upon the Israeli government to treat the Sudanese and the Darfuri refugees in its soil according to Geneva Conventions 1951 on the status of the refugee and its subsequent Protocol of 1967,”
JEM has been engaged in talks with the SPLM-N and the two Darfur rebels factions of Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdul Wahid Nur and Minni Minawi in order to forge an alliance aiming to topple the government in Khartoum. However, the deal is not yet sealed amid reports that JEM opposed the inclusion of the demand for a secular state in the alliance manifesto.
(ST)