By Elizabeth Costner
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Africa
KHARTOUM, Sudan – Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir warned Saturday that although the government does not want war, it will be ready for one if forced to fight. This statement came at a rally marking the 18th anniversary of the Popular Defense Forces (PDF), a militia he created to fight in Sudan’s 22-year civil war. Bashir called on the PDF “to open training camps and gather mujahadeen not for the sake of war but to be ready for anything.”
Southerners have been increasingly accusing the government of violating the peace treaty that ended the civil war in 2005, leading to concerns of a return to war. Bashir announced that he will continue to refuse to budge “an inch” on the contested borders of the oil-rich Abyei region, a dispute that led to the SPLM pulling its ministers out of the government in October.
Bashir’s comments come at a very turbulent time for the Darfur region and ongoing peace efforts. Darfur peace talks, brokered by the AU and UN have died out due to boycotts of insurgent groups. The SPLM and rebel groups, who have responded that they are for peace and not for a return to war, have condemned Bashir’s comments and accused him of “threatening and calling for war.”
Bashir also reiterated his right to exclude Western troops from a 26,000 UN-AU joint peacekeeping force scheduled to start operating in Darfur next year. “The boots of those who blasphemed the prophet Muhammad would never trample on Sudanese land” Bashir told the crowd at the rally. This statement was apparently in reference to countries whose newspapers carried caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. A Denmark newspaper first published the drawings in 2005 and several European countries later reprinted them.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated in his latest report that several obstacles remain in the way of a speedy deployment of the troops, including the Sudanese government’s refusal to assign land for the hybrid force. Sudan also has yet to approve a list of troop donor countries.
For more information, please see:
Reuters – Former rebels accuse Sudan president of threatening war – 18 November 2007
Sudan Tribune – Bashir says Sudan will not accept troops from four countries in Darfur – 18 November 2007
The Times (South Africa) – Beshir ups ante in Sudan – 18 November 2007
AP – Sudan Leader Says He’d Be Ready for War – 17 November 2007
For more information on the Sudan situation, please see the following Impunity Watch reports:Continued Delays in Deployment of Sudan Hybrid Force; Sudan Talks Falter; Upcoming Peace Talks in Sudan in Jeopardy; New Atrocities in Darfur; Ceasefire Ends in Sudan; African Union Peacekeepers Attacked in Darfur; Ongoing Conflict in Sudan; ICC Prosecutor Demands Arrests in Sudan; Secretary General Urges Sudan President to Commit to Ceasefire; Peace Talks on Darfur Scheduled for October
