NCP says regional and international changes working in Sudan’s favour

October 23, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – A senior official with the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in Sudan expressed happiness over changes sweeping the regional and international arena saying that this turns out to be working in Sudan’s favour.

The NCP’s deputy head Nafie Ali Nafie who addressed the closing session to the party’s political sector conference said that conditions are now ripe “after the fall of the tyrants who were fighting us and backed those who fought us.”

Nafie was most likely referring to the fall of the Egyptian and Libyan regimes this year as a result of popular uprisings. Despite the seemingly good relations Sudan had with both countries in the past, officials in Khartoum, particularly president Omer Hassan al-Bashir, came out to accuse the former rulers of Egypt and Libya of conspiring against his country.

Sudan moved quickly to forge ties with the new authorities in the two countries and expressed hope that the political change will reflect positively on Khartoum.

The NCP deputy head said that internal opposition groups that relied on these regimes are now weakened with no strategy except making statements over the media. However he stressed that the government will not make the mistake of underestimating their powers “even if they only have 1% chance of success.”

A number of Darfur rebel groups along with the Sudan People Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N), signed an agreement known as ‘Kauda Alliance’ this year, primarily to coordinate military efforts. The alliance has been a source of concern to the Sudanese government which now has three open war fronts in Darfur, Blue and South Kordofan.

Nafie, who is also Bashir’s assistant, further said that Western nations hostile to Sudan are now suffering from an economic crisis.

“We know their weak points and [we] must take advantage of this opportunity and [conduct] dialogue with them as equals without arrogance or hegemony,” Nafie said.

The NCP official added that West dominance over international organizations such as the United Nations is also waning which provides the African Union (AU) with a chance to play a more active role and take matters into its own hands.

(ST)