Sudan will not expel Syrian ambassador

February 13, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – Khartoum has no intention of severing diplomatic ties with Syria on the grounds of Damascus’s deadly crackdown on protesters, an official said on Monday.

Several Western and Arab countries, particularly Arab Gulf states, have already expelled Syrian ambassadors and recalled theirs from Damascus as efforts to end 11 months of bloodshed there failed to yield results.

Conversely, Damascus ordered the expulsion of the Libyan and Tunisian ambassadors, and recalled Syrian ambassadors in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

The collapse of diplomatic relations between Damascus and some Arab countries is a direct result of the continued crackdown by the Syrian regime of President Bashar Al-Assad against protesters seeking to overthrow it.

Unlike Arab countries, however, Khartoum has declared it will not expel the Syrian ambassador.

A Sudanese official speaking on condition of anonymity told the official news agency of Kuwait (KUNA) on Monday that Khartoum does not plan to follow the footsteps of Arab countries and expel the Syrian ambassador.

The official also dismissed as groundless accusations that Khartoum has influenced the report of the Sudanese General Mohamed Mustafa Al-Dabi who was in charge of the Arab League’s mission of observers to Syria.

Al-Dabi resigned from his position Sunday after he was harshly criticised for reporting a slump in the violence and a controversial death toll of 136 people during his mission’s presence in Syria.

The Arab League eventually decided to terminate the mandate of the mission and pursue other courses of actions against Damascus.

Sudan was originally of the view that Damascus was the subject of an international conspiracy targeting its strong positions on Arab issues.

Khartoum later bowed to pressure from Arab allies including Qatar to change its position and support an Arab League resolution that suspended Syria’s membership and introduced sanctions against the regime.

Sudan’s foreign minister Ali Karti this week said he does not expect the violence in Syria to recede and criticised Russia and China for vetoing a United Nations Security Council’s resolution backed by Arab and Western countries to call on Al-Assad to stand down and hand power to his deputy.

The UN says that more than 5000 people have died since the Syrian uprising against Al-Aassad regime started in March 2011.

(ST)