Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Sudanese Embassy in Washington calls for UN and AU to impose sanctions on JEM/NFR leaders for attack on Hamrat AlSheikh, N Kordofan

Following is a release from the Embassy of Sudan - via U.S. Newswire July 5:
In a flagrant aggression and total disregard of human lives, a joint group of the non-signatories to the Darfur Peace Agreement, i.e., Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and elements of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), carried out an attack outside the region, on Hamrat AlSheikh, a town about 250 miles from Khartoum in the State of North Kordofan. The outlaws attacked the town with 50 trucks armed with heavy weapons. As a result of the attacks, 12 people died and almost the entire population of the town fled their homes. Justification made by the rebels for the attack was to show their ability to hit wherever they like! They are bragging about their ability to create human tragedies by killing and displacing innocent people.

Ambassador Khidir Haroun Ahmed, Chief of Mission, said that the attack is reminiscent to what they did in 2003 in Darfur. He added, "They destroyed the Sudan Telecommunication headquarters, schools and the only hospital in town." Ambassador Ahmed welcomed the U.S. Administration's condemnation of the attack saying that the U.S. Congress, religious and civic organizations should follow suit. He said the U.N. as well as AU should impose sanctions on the leaders of the perpetrators of the attack and urge neighboring countries to respect their commitment for peace making in Sudan.
I find it difficult to understand why sanctions have not been imposed on rebel group leaders. Even law abiding citizens experience difficulty in obtaining permits to enter the US and UK. Why are outlaws free to come and go as they please?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yes you are right this problem does need to be looked at. Excellent blog.