Sudanese president says army possesses ‘sophisticated’ force

June 23, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir declared that the army has become recently become in possession of resources that made it a “large and sophisticated deterrent force” with the ability to protect and secure the country from any internal and external dangers.

Sudan’s military is self sufficient in the light weapons, ammunition and armored vehicles produced by the Military Industrialization Commission.

Bashir’s statements were made public on Tuesday during a handover ceremony at the Ministry of Defence from outgoing minister Abdel-Rahim Mohamed Hussein to acting minister General Mustafa Osman Obeid

The president also issued a decree read by presidency minister Salah Wansi awarding Hussein to grant the former defense minister the ‘Excellence Award’ “in recognition of his effort in the development and modernization of the armed forces in a variety of industrial, scientific and legal fields and his concern for the soldier, his weapons, work environment and in recognition of his performance ….in extending security and stability in Sudan”.

The new defense minister said that the army would go ahead with its plan to secure the country and protect the homeland as well as developing military manufacturing and training.

He renewed the call for rebels to join the peace process to stop the bleeding and focus on building the country.

Hussein for his part said that despite the challenges faced by army in previous periods, they went on to achieve its objectives in the field of manufacturing to raise capacity and training.

(ST)