Sudanese MP calls to withdraw troops from Yemen

October 25, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – The leading figure at the Reform Now Movement (RNM) and member of the parliament Hassan Osman Rizq Wednesday has called to end the presence of the Sudanese troops in Yemen.

The Sudanese army has been participating in the Saudi-led military coalition since 2015 in a regional effort to back the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after he was ousted from the capital Sanaa by the Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels.

Speaking during the deliberations on the Prime Minister’s speech in the National Assembly, Rizq said “the armed forces must come out of Yemen”, pointing that “many disadvantages are emerging due the participation in this war”.

However, the MP didn’t elaborate on the nature of those negative consequences but he objected to Sudan’s submission to the Saudi will in the Yemen war.

“If we entered the war for the sake of our friendly relations with Saudi Arabia, it doesn’t need that because Saudi Arabia has many friendly countries that didn’t enter the war to fight alongside it,” he said.

“And if we entered the war to restore the legitimacy, that should be determined by the Yemenis because we wouldn’t allow [foreign countries] to decide on our legitimacy and if we entered the war for the sake of Mecca and Medina, there is no war in the two cities,” he added.

Last June, Sudan’s President Omer al-Bashir praised the role of the army in Yemen, vowing to continue to participate in Saudi-led alliance until it achieves its goals.

In May, Sudanese military sources dismissed media reports that 80 Sudanese troops have been killed in Yemen saying only 21 were killed, including 4 officers.

(ST)