Sudan vows to continue military campaign in Blue Nile Article Comments (2) Email PrintSave --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
September 17, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government on Saturday said it is determined to crush the rebellion in the Blue Nile state, a day after Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi visited Khartoum in a fresh mediation push. Sudan 1st Vice President Ali Osman Taha in Damazin, Blue Nile state September 17,2011 (SUNA) Last month clashes broke out in the state which borders Ethiopia and South Sudan between Khartoum and units from Sudan People Liberation Army (SPLA). Both sides traded blame over who started the fighting. Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir declared the state of emergency in the state and sacked its governor Malik Agar who won elections last year on the SPLM ticket. Agar, who is the chairman of SPLM-North, is currently leading SPLA units fighting Sudan Armed Forces (SAF). Bashir’s 1st Vice President Ali Osman Taha paid a visit to Blue Nile state capital of Damazin and affirmed the government’s desire to “cleanse” the country from those with hidden agendas and conspirators. Taha said that those who targeted stability in the Blue Nile through war could not change Sudan’s identity through peace. He said that the Sudanese people are all standing by the people of the Blue Nile until land is liberated and peace prevailed and development achieved. "This is the message that we came to convey to you" Taha said. The 1st VP said that Blue Nile would remain part of Sudan and threatened those who call for otherwise. "We will cut off every hand that wants to extract it from the entity of larger Sudan and it will remain part of Sudan’s Islamic affiliation with all its strength, vigorous discourse and history" the Sudanese official said. "We want this state to come out of this test and ordeal stronger, more cohesive and coherent” Taha added. The Ethiopian PM who met with Bashir on Friday has reportedly renewed his mediation efforts though little details emerged on his proposals. The London-based al-Hayat newspaper said that Bashir agreed in principle to recognizing SPLM-North as a political party and allow them to be represented on state and federal levels in return for being integrated into SAF and the police. Observers say that the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) wants to eliminate the SPLM-N from the political arena. SPLM-N is also engaged in clashes with SAF in the oil-rich state of South Kordofan. Bashir has scrapped an agreement mediated by the African Union last June despite being signed by his powerful aide Nafie Ali Nafie. Blue Nile and South Kordofan are part of north Sudan but their population sided largely with the South during the second Sudanese civil war 1983-2005. Under the North-South peace accord, the two states were supposed to hold “popular consultations” to determine the level of local satisfaction with the implementation of the agreement. But the vote stalled in both states as efforts to reach a political settlement failed to yield results. (ST) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
