| Posted to the web on November 20, 2007 |
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November 19, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Weekend remarks by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir have moved the country closer to war, former rebels in South Sudan told the BBC.
At a rally for the northern Popular Defense Force, Bashir encouraged Arabic militias "to open training camps and to gather mujahedin not for the sake of war, but to be ready for anything."
That rankled the opposition -- and predominantly southern Sudan People's Liberation Movement -- whose ambassador to the United States, Ezeikel Gatkout, told the BBC it was a dangerous statement.
"This is a provocation, and he's beating the drums of war," Gatkout said.
The 20-year-old civil war between northern, mainly Muslim, fighters and predominantly Christian and animist rebels from the south ended in 2005 with a death toll of more than 2 million people, the report said.
(UPI)
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