Sudan condemns violent crackdown on pro-Morsi protestors in Egypt
August 14, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government on Wednesday condemned the killing of hundreds of protesters loyal to deposed president Muhammad Morsi in Egypt in a full-force crackdown by security forces who moved to clear protest camps that were set up in two Cairo locations for almost two months.
The statement said that Sudan, given its historical ties with Egypt, has been carefully following the recent developments in its northern neighbor due to its implications on security and stability in the whole region.
However, it underscored that these events are essentially internal issues which belong to the Egyptian people and its political leadership.
“Sudan has been calling upon all Egyptian parties to work towards stopping the bloodshed and sparing Egypt the ravages of violence and fighting “, the foreign ministry said.
The statement went slammed the violent crackdown on protesters in several public squares which led to the death and injury of thousands of protestors, calling upon all parties to resort to peaceful means to resolve the current crisis.
The dramatic ouster of Egypt’s president Mohamed Morsi last month was greeted with delight by millions of jubilant people on the streets of Cairo and other cities across Egypt.
Sudan’s Islamist government has appeared uncomfortable with the developments in Egypt given the common ideology they shared with Morsi and the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) which brought him to power.
However, Khartoum insisted that it is neutral to the change in Egypt and that it an internal matter.
Unlike most Arab leaders, the Sudanese president has not congratulated interim Egyptian president Adli Mansour on his new role.
In the Sudanese capital, dozens of Islamists and Egyptian expatriates staged a demonstration in front of Egypt’s embassy to protest today’s bloody clampdown in Cairo.
The Popular Congress Party (PCP) led by Islamist figure Hassan al-Turabi in a press release accused the Egyptian army of carrying out a massacre against what it emphasized were peaceful protestors.
It added that the entire world was shocked with today’s events which confirms the insistence of tyrants in Egypt – as described by the statement – in continuing the policy of bloodshed on top of fabricating charges, harassing and censoring opinions of dissidents.
“This confirms that the dictatorship and tyranny, and the remnants of the former regime have returned and heralds a return to tyranny and suppression…..and return to the militarization of the whole life,” the PCP said.
The opposition party affirmed its labeling of Morsi’s ouster as a coup and called for prosecuting the coup perpetrators and criminals.
Egypt’s Vice President Mohamed El-Baradei, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who lent liberal political support to the ousting of Egypt’s first freely elected president, resigned in dismay at the use force instead of a negotiated end to the six-week stand-off.
“It has become difficult for me to continue bearing responsibility for decisions that I do not agree with and whose consequences I fear. I cannot bear the responsibility for one drop of blood,” he said in his resignation letter.
The Interim Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi spoke in a televised address of a “difficult day for Egypt” but said the government had no choice but to order the crackdown to prevent anarchy spreading.
“We found that matters had reached a point that no self-respecting state could accept,” he said.
(ST)