Al-Bashir in Abu karshola mimics Don Quixote fighting windmills
By Mahmoud A. Suleiman
May 30, 2013 – This article comes against the backdrop of the tactical withdrawal of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) from Abu Kershola area in the region of Kordofan, which was followed by the noises made by Omer al-Bashir and his supporters thereafter. It is true that a good number of honest national journalists, among them Sheriff Thahab (Battle Abu Kershola: the lessons, have written extensively and factually on the issue of Abu Kershola, nevertheless, I thought shedding light on certain facts is indispensable.
Omer al-Bashir and his militias have declared a false victory for a battle which did not happen between them and the (SRF) on the ground at all. The data on the ground expose the systematic lies unashamedly told by the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) spokesman, nicknamed sarcastically, the ‘official Denier of the Truth”!
The truth is, as everyone knows, that the (SRF) gallant troops occupied the territory of Abu Kershola on the 6th May 2013 and withdrew from it on 26th May 2013 on humanitarian grounds for the sake of the civilian population who would suffer the horrors of war when the confrontation happens between the SRF forces and NCP militias. The latter are likely to use the civilians as human shields, as they used to do, to protect themselves from the painful blows of the SRF fighters. Moreover, the task for which the SRF forces occupied Abu Kershola had ended in preparation for the next stage plan.
The Forces of the SRF stayed in Abu Kershola for more than three weeks during which they repulsed the attacks of NCP army and allied militias who tried more than five repeated attempts to recover the city in vain. The government troops and the allied militias incurred heavy losses in lives and materiel; the estimated number of dead and injured in thousands. The militias and government forces came in after the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) rebels voluntarily evacuated the city of Abu Kershola where General Omar al-Bashir found the chance to dance gleefully shamelessly for an alleged triumph that does not exist on the ground, if anything but a miserably poor performance by all global military standards. Amid tears of the former inept health minister Tabita Boutros, the Cheers and chanting of the phrase Allahu Akbar (God is great), the braying Omar al-Bashir said imprudently in a televised rhetorical speech: “We will not recognize the Revolutionary Front. If the southerners, referring to the Republic of South Sudan, supported the Revolutionary Front, they should forget their oil and let them drink it once more”!
When Political observers watched the state television channel and saw the hoopla, chants and the usual dance of Omer al-Bashir they thought that major accomplishments must have been achieved for the sicken country of Sudan; but they were shocked when they learned that those are naïve theatrical whirlwind to cover up the NCP regime’s failure to govern the homeland.
Some satirists made an analogy that Omer al-Bashir’s army and militias must have been fighting the Tebaldi (Baobab Fruit Powder) Trees in Abu Kershola mimicking the Spanish warrior Don Quixote’s fights of windmills that he imagined to be giants!
It is certain that the Sudanese regime’s army and militia have entered Abu Kershola city without a fight or any resistance after being vacated by the SRF forces voluntarily the day before the arrival of the remnants of the army of the regime’s Defence Minister Abdelrahim Mohammed Hussein, nicknamed satirically “Allamby-assudani or the Defense by the Naked Eye”! He has been indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes he committed in Darfur when he was a Minister of Interior at the time. Both he and his master of grace Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir are fugitives from the international justice at The Hague.
Furthermore, the ruling National Congress Party in Khartoum has used foreign troop from as far as Iran, Chad, Rwanda and the Islamists fleeing from Mali and Niger in order to recover this city Abu Kershola. It also brought different kinds of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), including Nerve gases mustard and sarin and other chemical toxins which were brought from Iran via private aircraft spotted landing at the airport in the City of Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan State, during the past few days. Al-Bashir also sought the help of Egypt to annihilate the gallant fighters of SRF, but the Egyptian authorities refused, saying that the problem between the Sudanese government and the SRF is an internal matter. Furthermore, the Egyptian government advised Omer al-Bashir to resign and handover authority to the people of Sudan. The occupation of the SRF forces’ occupation of Abu Kershola revealed the fragility of the NCP entity and the corrosion it suffers within. That fact makes the regime to seek and beg insistently the support of foreign armies to protect its throne from falling. Moreover, the occupation of Abu Kershola axis by the (SRF) forces has reflected distance between the leaders of the National Umma Party (NUP) and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from the aspirations of their bases by selling themselves cheaply against few government jobs for their two sons, Abdelrahaman al-Sadiq al-Mahdi and Jaafar al-Sadiq Mirghani respectively in the pyramid of power and open the state coffers for them to loot the already scarce resources of the nation.
The type of political discourse of Omer al-Bashir drives the opposition to opt for toppling the regime through a combined peaceful popular uprising and the military might of the SRF. The NCP regime has cried wolf been accusing the SRF of receiving logistic support from Israel and the state of South Sudan whenever their situation worsens. They try to find a scape goat as a peg to attach the fatal consequences of their reckless policies. Worse of all is that the NCP regime has always resorted to prevarication and intransigence to evade comprehensive solution to the outstanding major issues of the country, resorting to partial piecemeal solutions to prolong its survival in power. Unfortunately, there are entities in the Arab world and the neighbouring regional countries support that trend for self-interest, which tends to intersect with the role required by their membership in the global institutions such as United Nations (UN), African Union (AU), organisation of Arab States (Arab League), Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and other institutions. Sadly, they collude with the regime that subjected its citizens in Darfur to the heinous atrocities of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.
At this juncture, all the components of the Sudanese people have realised the danger that encircles the country and they put a hand over hand to topple dictator Omar al-Bashir and his clique. The people of the homeland have turned a blind eye to their differences and focused and directed their efforts toward the common goal and their motto says ‘Toppling the regime is a popular Demand’! Overthrowing the NCP regime that inflicted injustice, poverty, disease, killings, displacement on the civilian populations and entered the country into the dark tunnel is a National duty.
Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) calls on all Sudanese components to hold on to their unity and not to allow the creation of ethnic or racial strife, which sown by the toxins emitted by the corrupt racist media of the NCP regime.
The truth remains that Omar al-Bashir’s Joy was false following the tactical withdrawal of the SRF forces from Abu Kershola in South Kordofan. It is imperative for the people of Sudan to realise that the decision of withdrawal from the Abu Kershola hub was based on a number of dimensions; humanitarian, political, military and other issues.
Of the most appalling calamities that afflicted the people of Sudan in the kill off over the past two and a half decades is the assumption of the reins of a country like Sudan by scums of sort of Omer al-Bashir and the rest of the ignorant ilk – as if one is quoting the poet and the Sudanese statesman, Mohammed Ahmed Mahjoub, to whom the meanings of the Verses of the poetry attributed and reportedly said: ‘This is the epoch for farces to take fun of others when the hunting dogs “hounds” being counted among the knights!
THE SRF appeals to the International community to take side with the people of Sudan and halt supporting the NCP regime whose elements are fugitives from the international justice in The Hague. Further stay of al-Bashir in power is a threat to the international peace. It will open the gates wide for more instability of the region especially for the newly emerged State of South Sudan and beyond.
What has been promoted by some circles in the international community that the overthrow of the NCP regime would lead to anarchy is unfounded farce. Bearing in mind that chaos has existed for over a decade in Darfur and other regions of Sudan. Among the main factors of the Secession of the southern part of Sudan was a culmination of the chaos brought about by the NCP’s mismanagement of the country, lack of good governance and the rule of law. The SRF and the other opposition groups have the political will and the ability to safely manage Sudan towards peace, freedom, parliamentary democracy, justice, equality and a decent life for all the people of the country on the basis of Citizenship as the sole identity without discrimination.
Dr. Mahmoud A. Suleiman is the Deputy Chairman of the General Congress for Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). He can be reached at [email protected]