January 15, 2023 (AD-DAMAZIN) – The head of the Sovereign Council and Commander in Chief of the Sudanese army Abdel Fattah al-Burhan stated that the army does not recruit mercenaries to destabilize neighbouring countries.
On Sunday, al-Burhan addressed the 56th Shooting Festival in Ad Damazin, the capital of the Blue Nile region, where he expressed Sudan’s keenness on stability in the region and neighbouring countries.
He particularly singled out South Sudan and underscored the special ties between the two countries. Also he wished peace and stability for Ethiopia. He further saluted “Our brothers in the North of the Nile Valley” Egypt, Chad, and the rest of the neighbouring countries.
He said that the neighbouring countries supported Sudan and pledged that Sudan would support them to maintain security and safety.
“Neither Sudan nor the Sudanese army have ever recruited mercenaries to fight in another country, we are a professional army and committed to international laws,” he said.
“So no one should think that we sent an army to fight in another country and this is not our tradition,” further stressed the military leader.
Burhan’s statements made no reference to any neighbouring countries of Sudan.
On January 12, Burhan agreed with President Salva Kiir to deploy joint forces on the border between the two countries. Khartoum and Juba are hosting leaders of holdout groups in order to persuade them to join the peace process.
Also, al-Burhan’s deputy and Commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) spoke recently about the recruitment of former members of the Border Guards Forces to overthrow the government in the Central African Republic (CAR).
One of the RSF senior officers in Darfur recently said they thwarted the smuggling of uniforms to the CAR. The Sudanese army owns a military clothing factory.
In addition, al-Burhan spoke about the ongoing political process in Khartoum and reiterated the military’s commitment to the framework agreement and the ongoing political process.
He further reassured the troops that the ongoing process would not affect the military establishment or lead to the dismantling of the army. He repeated his call to political leaders to prepare themselves for elections and stop speaking about the army’s internal organisation.
He denied statements by parties opposed to the framework agreement about the existence of foreign interference in the political process, stressing that “there is no one who imposes anything on us.”
Some Islamists and leaders of the Democratic Bloc used to say that the political process was masterminded by the ambassadors of the QUAD countries, which supported the Trilateral Mechanism efforts to bridge the gaps between the pro-democracy civilian forces and the coup leaders.
(ST)
