Bashir confessed errors and war crimes WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?

Bashir makes rare admission of "bloodshed" & "injustice" in Sudan

July 22, 2013, (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir gave an unusually candid assessment of the situation in his country expressing regret over the prevalence of bloodshed in Sudan and even appeared to be holding himself personally responsible.

"How will god answer our prayers when we are shedding the blood of Muslims and each others’ blood?" Bashir told attendees at an Iftar dinner hosted by the head of the Darfur Transitional Authority (DRA) al-Tijani al-Seisi at his home in Khartoum.

"We know that the destruction of the Ka’aba [in Mecca] is lesser [in gravity] in the eyes of god than the killing of a [human] soul," he added.

The Sudanese president stressed that people get punished in this life for all sins they commit except murder which has its retribution saved for the day of judgment.

The veteran Sudanese general, who ruled Sudan for 24 years since staging a coup in 1989, also said that the "injustice" shrouding the country resulted in drought and lack of rain.

"How can we ask for mercy [from god] when our hands are covered in blood?" Bashir asked.

He then addressed the growing trend of tribal conflicts in Darfur and urged the Darfuris present to raise their hands and make an oath on their desire to seek peace.

"Swear and say we are for peace and against war….We do not want anyone from outside advising us. We will solve our own problems," the Sudanese president said.

Bashir said that reasons for the killings in Darfur do not even warrant slaughtering a sheep let alone a human being and vowed that an upcoming a tribal reconciliation conference will come up with real solutions.

The out-of-the-ordinary statements by Bashir represent a stark departure from his usual fiery speeches in which he often strikes a challenging and threatening tone to his opponents and to the western nations alike which he claims are working to topple his regime.

Throughout his two-decades rule, Bashir has managed to weather a major civil war with what is now independent South Sudan, multiple rebellions that continue till this very day, U.S. sanctions and most recently an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant alleging that he orchestrated war crimes and genocide in Darfur.

The conflict erupted in the large western region of Darfur in 2003, when ethnic African rebels rose up against Khartoum, complaining of discrimination by the Arab-dominated government.

Khartoum responded with a military crackdown, and it is accused of unleashing Arab militias known of Janjaweed, which have attacked ethnic African villages, killing, raping and looting residents, according to United Nations reports.

While Khartoum’s human rights record has always drawn condemnation since Bashir came to power over its brutal suppression of dissent, the Darfur conflict created a headache for the Sudanese government which has sought tirelessly to label it as a manufactured and an exaggerated crisis.

Bashir himself has vehemently denied any mass killings in Darfur and continuously asserted that no more than 10,000 were killed since the violence broke out a decade ago and rejected responsibility for the deaths.

The UN estimates that 300,000 people were killed in the course of the Darfur conflict while more than 2 million civilians were displaced.

Even though the violence in Darfur has ebbed from its 2003-2004 peaks it has recently picked up again between the army, rebels and rival tribes, displacing some 300,000 people since January of this year.

(ST)