Sudanese opposition has to take advantage of Bashir’s call for Russian protection: JEM

November 26, 2017 (PARIS) – The leader of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Gibril Ibrahim has called on the Sudanese opposition forces to take advantage of recent statements by President Omer al-Bashir hostile to the U.S. and Gulf countries to topple down his regime.

“By his request for protection from Russia and the establishment of military bases to protect from the United States, al-Bashir has blown the efforts of his government staff to normalize relations Khartoum and Washington and improve relations with the Gulf States,” said Ibrahim in a meeting with Sudanese journalists and activists in Paris on Sunday

He further called on the Sudanese opposition take advantage of the situation created by Bashir’s statements to overthrow the ruling regime, and considered it as a challenge for the opposition to “seize the opportunity to mobilize people and to take to the street against the regime.

He pointed out that the statements created a great “audacity” among Sudanese to express their rejection for his regime, pointing to what was written by Mubarak al-Kouda, a Sudanese Islamist figure, who called on the president to step down.

“If we do not use the situation properly and do a lot of work in the opposition to bring down the regime, we will miss a great opportunity for our people and we only have ourselves to blame,” he stressed.

Sudanese were surprised by the sudden volt face operated by the President al-Bashir and many wondered what happened to trigger this change. Several explanation were proposed to explain his statements.

Ibrahim said they received reports sg that John Sullivan U.S. Deputy Secretary of State informed the government that Washington does not want to see al-Bashir running for presidency in 20202.

Al-Bashir does not want to leave office because his political immunity protects him against the arrest warrants of the war crimes court (ICC) in La Haye, he further said.

Sudanese foreign minister told reporters after al-Bashir return from Russia that the Sudanese president in his speech about Russian protection intended to highlight U.S. efforts at the UN Security Council to stop Sudan’s gold exportation.

Al-Bashir returned to Khartoum on Friday evening from Russia after a two-day work visit where he met with his counterpart Vladimir Putin. During the meeting, he asked Putin to protect his country against U.S. diplomatic efforts against his country at the UN Security Council.

(ST)