Bashir says Sudan to teach South Sudan “final lesson by force”
8 min readSudanese president threatens force against South Sudan over oil field
South Sudan has refused to leave Heglig until the United Nations sends a neutral force to oversee the area. Over the past 24 hours, Sudanese troops have attacked four areas near the field, according to South Sudanese military officials.
Bashir has vowed to retake the oil field and push on toward Juba, the capital of South Sudan. The capture of Heglig by the South Sudanese “has revived the spirit of jihad and martyrdom among the Sudanese people,” he told the rally in El Obaid, North Kordofan’s capital, according to the official Sudan News Agency.
“These people don’t understand, and we will give them the final lesson by force,” he added, according to a translation by the Reuters news agency. “We will not give them an inch of our country, and whoever extends his hand on Sudan, we will cut it.”
Bashir says Sudan to teach South “final lesson by force”
By Khalid Abdelaziz and Alexander Dziadosz
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir threatened war against his newly-independent neighbour on Thursday, vowing to teach South Sudan a “final lesson by force” after it occupied a disputed oil field.
“These people don’t understand, and we will give them the final lesson by force,” Bashir told the rally in El-Obeid, North Kordofan’s capital. “We will not give them an inch of our country, and whoever extends his hand on Sudan, we will cut it.”Appearing in medal-spangled general’s uniform at a large rally in the border province of North Kordofan, the burly military ruler danced side-to-side, waved his walking stick in the air and made blistering threats against the leadership of the South, which broke off last year after decades of civil war.
South Sudan separated from the rest of Sudan with Bashir’s blessing last July under the terms of a 2005 peace deal. But since then violence has steadily escalated, fuelled by territorial disputes, ethnic animosity and quarrels over oil.
Last week, South Sudan seized Heglig, a disputed oil field near the border between the two countries, claiming it as its rightful territory and saying it would only withdraw if the United Nations deployed a neutral force there.
Bashir vowed to retake the oil field, which he said was part of Sudan’s Kordofan province. That alone would not resolve the conflict, he added.
“Heglig is not the end, but the beginning.”
Global powers have voiced alarm at the escalation of violence and urged the two to stop fighting and return to talks.
In a dramatic escalation of rhetoric on Wednesday, Bashir said he would “liberate” South Sudan from its rulers, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, which fought the guerrilla civil war against Khartoum.
There was no immediate comment from the South to Thursday’s speech.
China, a major investor in both countries, expressed “serious concern” about the increase of tensions and called on both sides to stop fighting, “maintain calm and exercise maximum restraint”.
“China has worked hard to ameliorate the problems between the two Sudans, and we will continue to work with the international community at mediation efforts,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told a daily news briefing.
Some 2 million people died in Sudan’s civil war, fought for all but a few years from 1955 to 2005 over disputes of ideology, ethnicity and religion.
The countries remain at odds over the position of their border, how much the landlocked South should pay to transport its oil through Sudan and the division of national debt, among other issues.
Both countries accuse each other of waging proxy war through militia operating on each other’s territory.
Sudan’s military – with an air force, tanks and artillery – is far better equipped than the former guerrilla fighters who make up the South Sudan army. In addition to the civil war in the south, Sudan has also fought long-simmering rebellions in Kordofan and Darfur.
Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court in the Hague for war crimes in connection with the Darfur conflict, charges he rejects as political.
The south has tens of thousands of fighters under arms, with decades of experience in guerrilla conflict.
(Reporting by Ali Abdelatti, Khalid Abdelaziz, Alexander Dziadosz and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Peter Graff)
Copyright © 2012 Reuters
South Sudan’s capture of Heglig went ‘beyond self-defense,’ US envoy says MiamiHerald.com By ALAN BOSWELL JUBA, South Sudan — The US special envoy to Sudan and South Sudanacknowledged in an interview Wednesday that the two countries are at war and warned that the conflict will likely spread if South Sudan does not withdraw from a disputed … |
||
| South Sudan is World Bank’s Newest Member Voice of America April 18, 2012 South Sudan is World Bank’s Newest Member VOA News South Sudan became the newest member of the World Bank on Wednesday when the country’s finance minister, Kosti Manibe Ngai, signed an agreement in Washington formalizing the country’s … |
||
|
| Bashir Seeks to ‘Liberate’ South Sudan Voice of America April 18, 2012 Bashir Seeks to ‘Liberate’ South Sudan VOA News Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir has vowed to remove South Sudan’s ruling party from power, as tension between the countries continues to escalate. Addressing a rally in Sudan’s capital, … |
||
| Sudan president threatens to oust South government STLtoday.com This photo of Saturday, April 14, 2012, shows a dead Sudanese soldier lying on the road to the Heglig front lines in South Sudan as fighting between Sudan and South Sudan over the past two weeks centered around the oil-rich Heglig area. |
||
|
|
||
| 22 soldiers die in South Sudan border battle Southeast Missourian By MICHAEL ONYIEGO ~ AP JUBA, South Sudan — Soldiers from Sudan and South Sudanclashed at a river dividing their two countries, leaving 22 dead as fighting spread to a new area of the tense border. A Sudanese official demanded Wednesday that South … |
||
|
Faribault County Register |
| China Expresses Concern Over Sudanese Conflict ABC News China said Thursday it is greatly concerned about the escalating border conflict between Sudan andSouth Sudan and is ready to help. South Sudan broke away from Sudan in July after decades of civil war, but the two never agreed on how to share the oil … |
| South Africa: Bashir declares war on South Sudan 7thSpace Interactive (press release) Pretoria – Sudanese President Omar al- Bashir on Wednesday declared war on South Sudan, and vowed to bring down the government of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in Juba, at a time of escalating military confrontations on the border … |
| WORLD News of the Day From Across the Globe – San Francisco Chronicle El-Bashir vowed to “liberate” the people of South Sudan, saying it was his country’s duty to them.South Sudan broke away from Sudan in July after decades of civil war, creating the world’s newest country. But the two never agreed on how to share the … |
| South Sudan’s Machar calls on youth to join the army and defend the nation Sudan Tribune April 19, 2012 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s Vice President, Riek Machar, has urged the youth in the ten states of South Sudan to join the army amidst signs of further escalating border conflict between Sudan and South Sudan. Deadliest clashes since South … |
| Sudan president aims for South Sudan’s liberation IANS Khartoum, April 19: Sudan President Omar al-Bashir has said his main goal now is to “liberate” the people of South Sudan from its rulers following recent border clashes. President Bashir also described the former rebel Sudan People’s Liberation … |
About Post Author
