SUDAN: Rally in Khartoum including president Omar al-Bashir denounces Darfur rebel attack on which killed more than 200 people

Record ID: 212687

  • Title: SUDAN: Rally in Khartoum including president Omar al-Bashir denounces Darfur rebel attack on which killed more than 200 people
  • Date: 15th May 2008
  • Summary: (FLASH) KHARTOUM, SUDAN (MAY 14, 2008) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF LARGE CROWD OF PEOPLE WITH BANNERS, CHANTING 'KHALIL IS A SLAVE OF ISRAEL'/ SUDAN'S PRESIDENT OMAR AL-BASHIR (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SUDAN'S PRESIDENT OMAR AL-BASHIR, SAYING: "The rebels sold themselves, they have nothing to do with Darfur. They used their relatives in Darfur. They brought infants, mercenaries who they paid to try and occupy Khartoum." PEOPLE CARRYING BANNERS/ CHANTING MORE OF CROWDS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SUDAN'S PRESIDENT OMAR AL-BASHIR, SAYING: "Yes we are for peace but there is no place for the perpetrator, for the one who sold his home, tribe relatives and all his values and principles." BASHIR LOOKING ON POLICE AND SECURITY MEN STANDING BY AS PEOPLE CHANT 'OH COWARD KHALIL, BASHIR ON THE BATTLE FIELD' VARIOUS OF PEOPLE HOLDING UP BANNERS
  • Embargoed: 30th May 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Sudan
  • Country: Sudan
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA74ATOJ8T30M430QAVH4BUOU9M
  • Story Text: Tens of thousands of Sudanese descended on Khartoum's streets on Wednesday (May 14) shouting nationalist slogans denouncing a bold Darfur rebel attack on the capital which killed more than 200 people.
    The crowd surged forward engulfing journalists as President Omar Hassan al-Bashir appeared on stage wearing military fatigues leading chants calling Darfur rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) leader Khalil Ibrahim and coward and a foreign agent.

    "The rebels sold themselves, they have nothing to do with Darfur.
    They used their relatives in Darfur. They brought infants, mercenaries who they paid to try and occupy Khartoum," said Bashir.
    Women's unions, Sufi sects, soldiers and even supporters of opposition political parties turned out at the rally.
    Sudan blamed neighbouring Chad for the attack on Saturday as the heavily armed rebels attacked the western suburb of Omdruman being stopped only at the bridge leaving to central Khartoum, army headquarters and the Presidential Palace.
    It was the first time in decades of civil war that rebels from Sudan's peripheries had brought the conflict to Khartoum doorstep.
    And Sudan urged world leaders to list JEM as a terrorist group and extradite its officials abroad.
    Rights groups have expressed concern at reports of mass arrests, torture and two public executions of Darfuris and others caught up in a wave of arrests following the assault.

    "Yes we are for peace but there is no place for the perpetrator, for the one who sold his home, tribe relatives and all his values and principles," said Bashir.
    Sudan doubled the price on Ibrahim's head to $250,000 and broke diplomatic relations with Chad.
    N'Djamena denies links to the attack but analysts say it was likely a payback measure after an attack this year on Chad's capital by rebels President Idriss Deby says were armed by Sudan.
    JEM's forces withdrew from the capital on Sunday evening but the government has kept a curfew on Omdurman town as officials search for individuals hiding in the community.
    International experts estimate some 200,000 have died and 2.5 million driven from their homes after mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003 accusing central government of neglect.
    Khartoum blames Western media for exaggerating the conflict and puts the death toll at 10,000.
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