Defiant Bashir slams “bandits” & “traitors” who planned recent protests
October 9, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir, has accused those whom he called bandits, traitors and saboteurs of orchestrating the recent protests in collaboration with the “hostile media” in order to topple the regime.
Sudanese authorities said they arrested 700 in connection with the riots and denied using live ammunition against protesters. They accused outside elements of firing at the demonstrators, namely rebels from Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF).
Bashir further scoffed at those whom he described as “frail” and said that they got ready to take over power following the regime’s demise, accusing them of using “infiltrators” and “thieves” to carry out their plan which failed “by the grace of Allah (God)” and the “men” of Khartoum.
The Sudanese president , who was addressing a public rally in Gedaref state in eastern Sudan on Wednesday, said that his government wouldn’t back down from implementing the austerity measures.
He pointed that they explained to the Sudanese people the reasons behind lifting fuel subsidies, announcing that an economic conference will be held in November.
Bashir added that his government faced a lot of difficulties, pointing that he challenged the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant against him and travelled to several countries around the world, saying that his visa application for the US embassy was the biggest challenge to America.
“We were serious and when we challenged them they refused to issue me a visa”, he said.
Last month, Bashir applied for a visa to travel to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meetings.
The move by Bashir to seek entry drew rebuke by US officials who called on him to answer charges first at the International Criminal Court (ICC), which indicted him in 2009 and 2010 on ten counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in connection with the decade-long conflict in Sudan’s western region of Darfur.
The Sudanese president, who was addressing the celebration of changing the course of the Blue Nile for building the Upper Atbara and Setait dams, stressed that development projects would continue despite of the enemies’ attempts to prevent foreign aid and external finance.
“Allah supported us with finance from the Arab countries and China because Allah provides livelihood”, he said
He gave the signal for changing the course of the river and signed the contract for the dam which will offer storage capacity of 150,000 cubic meter of water for Gedaref state, saying that the project will provide permanent irrigation for 800,000 acres of land.
He said that the project would increase power generation and water supply for millions of people as well as agricultural projects.
(ST)