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Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Saturday blasted opposition forces in his country, describing them as traitors and mercenaries who cooperate with the CIA and Mossad.
Bashir addressed supporters in Khartoum, telling them that the American and Israeli intelligence agencies were behind recent accords signed by opposition parties calling for peace and democracy in Sudan, according to the Sudan Tribune.
The most recent accord called the "Sudan Call" was signed in Addis Ababa on December 3, and urged an end to war, the dissolution of the one-party state, as well as a peaceful transition to democracy.
Prior to that rebel and opposition groups signed a pact in August called the "Paris Declaration," which called for a comprehensive solution to the country's strife.
"If they believe that the Sudanese people are with them, then the door for political activities is open," Bashir said, according to the Sudan Tribune. "If the [Sudanese] Revolutionary Front or the Sudan Liberation Movement had followers then they would have…worked from inside Sudan."
"Why do you work abroad, and why are they shuttling between the hotels of Paris and Israel?" Bashir reportedly asked.
He also responded to demands to annul Islamic law, saying, "We tell them you could only lick your elbows."
Sudan last week ordered two senior United Nations officials to leave the country, UN sources said Thursday, in what appeared to be an escalation of Bashir's move against UN activities in the country.
"The UN has filed a protest with the government of Sudan following their decision to request the departure of two senior U.N. officials from the country," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
The reason for the expulsions was not immediately clear, but they come a month after Bashir called for peace keepers from the joint UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) to leave, calling them a "security burden."
Conflict erupted in Darfur in 2003 when mainly African tribes took up arms against the Arab-led government in Khartoum, accusing it of discriminating against them. UNAMID has been deployed in Darfur since 2007.
Haaretz daily
The most recent accord called the "Sudan Call" was signed in Addis Ababa on December 3, and urged an end to war, the dissolution of the one-party state, as well as a peaceful transition to democracy.
Prior to that rebel and opposition groups signed a pact in August called the "Paris Declaration," which called for a comprehensive solution to the country's strife.
"If they believe that the Sudanese people are with them, then the door for political activities is open," Bashir said, according to the Sudan Tribune. "If the [Sudanese] Revolutionary Front or the Sudan Liberation Movement had followers then they would have…worked from inside Sudan."
"Why do you work abroad, and why are they shuttling between the hotels of Paris and Israel?" Bashir reportedly asked.
He also responded to demands to annul Islamic law, saying, "We tell them you could only lick your elbows."
Sudan last week ordered two senior United Nations officials to leave the country, UN sources said Thursday, in what appeared to be an escalation of Bashir's move against UN activities in the country.
"The UN has filed a protest with the government of Sudan following their decision to request the departure of two senior U.N. officials from the country," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
The reason for the expulsions was not immediately clear, but they come a month after Bashir called for peace keepers from the joint UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) to leave, calling them a "security burden."
Conflict erupted in Darfur in 2003 when mainly African tribes took up arms against the Arab-led government in Khartoum, accusing it of discriminating against them. UNAMID has been deployed in Darfur since 2007.
Haaretz daily
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