SRF dismissive of Sudan President Bashir’s dialogue refusal

The Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) has reacted dismissively to Sudan President Bashir’s refusal to enter into any dialogue with the rebel coalition. “It’s usual for Bashir to lie and to swear to break contact, only to return later in humility begging for dialogue,” Yasir Arman, secretary-general of the SPLM-N and secretary of external relations for the SRF said in an interview with Radio Dabanga on Tuesday. Arman cited Bashir’s promise to break-off negotiations if foreign armies entered Darfur. “Darfur has now become a haven for foreign armies. It’s just like when Bashir initially vowed not to allow South Sudan to transport oil: he then turned around and signed an agreement. It is about time that Bashir realises that the state of Sudan does not belong to him, and that he should first consider his political position before making rash statements”. Arman said that, for example, “the SRF entered Abu Karshola and then withdrew without permission from Khartoum”. “Bashir’s shaky regime just couldn’t believe that we had withdrawn. Fact is that Bashir‘s accusation that the SRF are ‘traitors and agents’ are the words of a war criminal who is wanted by international justice and is responsible for the on-going hostilities in Sudan.” Arman further criticised Bashir for “not learning anything: … Bashir does not inform the Sudanese of what is happening, and the country has become a hotbed for foreign armies, as in Darfur”. Arman added that those who attended this week’s celebration of the ‘recapture of Abu Karshola’ at the General Command in Khartoum “are all mules of the security men, who came to show obedience”.File photo: Yasir Arman