Bashir takes pride in Sudan’s defiance of UN resolutions

October 13, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s president Omer Al-Bashir has bragged about his country’s ability to emulate Israel in breaking resolutions of the UN Security Council (UNSC), vowing to expel those who attempt to implement the latest UNSC’s resolutions on Darfur’s peacekeeping mission.

Al-Bashir, who was addressing a conference of the youth sector of his ruling National Congress Party (NCP) on Thursday, said that Sudan had successfully defied the UNSC’s resolution number 2003 to amend the mandate of the UN-AU Peacekeeping Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) as well as resolution number 1706 to expand the mandate of the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) to include deployment in Darfur.

“They can shove the new resolutions” Al-Bashir said, reiterating his threats to expel whoever is tempted to implement the resolution 2003.

“The resolution 2003 through which they tried to fool us by amending the mandate of UNAMID will not be implemented, and we will chuck out whoever tries to do so,” Al-Bashir declared.

Sudan has vehemently rejected the UNSC’s resolution number 2003 which extended UNAMID’s mandate for one year and instructed the mission to coordinate closely with the newly independent state of South Sudan, the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).

Al-Bashir also declared that Sudan’s new constitution would clearly reflect the “Sudanese identity” whose religion is Islam, adding that Muslims now make up 98 percent of the population after South Sudan, which is mainly Christian, seceded in July.

“We want to build a Qur’nic society…our efforts in the upcoming period will be concentrated in consolidating national identity and fighting tribalism,” he added.

This is not the first time Al-Bashir indicated his ambitions to transform Sudan into an entirely Islamic country. In December last year, one month before South Sudan’s vote on independence, Al-Bashir declared that if the south seceded as expected, Sudan would amend its constitution to make Islamic Shari’ah the only source of lawmaking and Arabic as the official language.

No negotiations with rebels in South Kordofan, Blue Nile

In his Thursday’s address, Al-Bashir maintained his touch stance towards the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N), which is fighting the country’s army in the border states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

“There will be no negotiation with the SPLM-N because it was the one that started the war” he said, adding that ending the state of war in the two states is contingent on the SPLM-N’s acceptance of the elections results in South Kordofan and surrendering its arms to the Sudanese army.

“There are no more negotiations or protocols, this is our position,” Al-Bashir declared.

The war in South Kordofan erupted after the SPLM-N rejected the results of the state’s gubernatorial elections which declared the NCP’s candidate Ahmad Harun as winner against the SPLM-N’s candidate Abdel-Aziz Al-Hilu. The SPLM-N also resisted attempts by the Sudanese army to disarm its fighters.

(ST)