Saturday, February 24, 2007

Sudan's Bashir: "We're all Africans, we're all black - talk of Arabs killing blacks is a lie"

Reuters report (via ST) 24 Feb 2007 - excerpt:
[Sudan's President] Bashir acknowledged Sudan was facing a "problem" in Darfur, but placed the blame squarely on rebel groups which did not sign on to a peace agreement concluded in Abuja, Nigeria in May 2006. "There is a problem, and the main cause of that problem is the rebellion ... we've done everything to possible to try to convince those who bore arms against the state and the people ... but all efforts and mediation failed," he said.

"There's a discourse in Western media about the number of people killed in these events, and a lot of organisations and the American media refer to imaginary numbers, up to 400,000 dead. All these are false."

He dismissed claims of ethnic cleansing in Darfur. "Talk of Arabs killing blacks is a lie. The government of Sudan is a government of blacks, with all different ethnic backgrounds ... We're all Africans, we're all black."
I agree with all of the above. Read through three years of this blog and you wil see why. Pity I can't find a transcript or video link of whole discussion instead of a short report by the BBC - excerpt:
Speaking via satellite to a conference in Detroit, he [Sudan's President Bashir] said that his government welcomed help on Darfur, but not at the expense of its sovereignty.

The Sudanese leader was addressing the national conference of the American Muslim organisation, Nation of Islam, at the invitation of controversial leader Louis Farrakhan.

He said he was speaking to a US audience because he wanted to correct the "campaign of distortion by the media" towards Sudan.

Mr Bashir also accused the international community of unfairly pressurising his government.

"We welcome the help of everyone to solve our problems, including the problem of Darfur, but not at the expense of our sovereignty and the unity of our homeland," he said.

"Those who want to topple the government in Khartoum, we will not allow them to do so," he warned.
Clearly, the aim of the Darfur rebel leaders is to topple the Sudanese government - they've admitted it themselves, noted here in the archives of Sudan Watch. JEM's even talked of making Darfur their own country. I wonder if the financing and brains behind the insurgents are that of black Africans.
- - -

See The Sudanese Thinker �on Sudan: Arab or African?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Al-basheir only laughing to the mind of the American people .. He is nad his hardliners are is the problem of finding a solution the darfur crisis.

Anonymous said...

All these war torn countries; the people of the country itself do not even bother about themselves.