Al-Bashir vows to squash SPLM-N as Sudan’s army says ready to take rebels’ stronghold

September 4, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – President Omer al-Bashir of Sudan has threatened to quell any military attacks by the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) as the country’s army declared readiness to seize the SPLM-N’s main stronghold in the Blue Nile State.

Sudan’s southern state of Blue Nile on Thursday became the country’s latest flashpoint after Sudan’s army (SAF) clashed with forces of the SPLM-N led by the state’s governor Malik Agar who was elected to his position in April 2010.

As fighting intensified, al-Bashir declared a state of emergency in the state and sacked Agar, prompting the SPLM-N to vow resistance to the ‘coup’ against the elected governor.

Addressing a gathering of political parties’ representatives in Khartoum on Sunday, al-Bashir said that the government had run out of patience in the face of SPLM-N’s provocations.

He claimed that Agar had sought to scuttle the popular consultation vote which the government implemented in the Blue Nile pursuant to the provisions of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

According to al-Bashir, the legislative assembly in the Blue Nile rejected demands of autonomy for the region, adding that the government tried not to replicate the scenario of South Kordofan in Blue Nile.

He told his audience that the government was exerting efforts to help those affected by the events in the Blue Nile and “purge it of outlaws.”

Addressing the same gathering, Sudan’s minister of defense Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein claimed that SAF had asserted control over several areas, including the vicinity of al- Rosieres Dam which accounts for nearly 50 percent of the production of electric power in the country.

The commander-in-chief of SAF in the Blue Nile, Yahia Mohamed Khair, who was appointed as a military ruler, said that the army assumed control of the situation in all fronts. He added that the army had managed to secure the state’s capital al-Damazin and was now ready to retake Al-Kurmuk town which is the mainstay of the SPLM-N.

Meanwhile, Khartoum announced that 4200 people fled al-Kurmuk and Gisan areas into Ethiopia. The country’s humanitarian coordinator Hasbu Abdel Rahman said that the refugees were now staying in camps along the border areas.

In a related development, the head of Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) Mohamed Atta visited Ethiopia and delivered a message from President al-Bashir to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

According to the Sudanese Media Center (SMC), a website run by the NISS, the letter briefed Zenawi on the situation in the Blue Nile.

It is to be noted that the Ethiopian Prime Minister had led efforts to reconcile the SPLM-N and the government. Zenawi arrived in Khartoum last month and moderated talks between Agar and president al-Bashir but the talks failed as both sides remained inflexible.

(ST)