Bashir says fighting the only way to resolve differences with South Sudan Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir delivers a speech in a ral...
Bashir says fighting the only way to resolve differences with South Sudan
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir delivers a speech in a rally of members of the ruling National Congress Party in Khartoum, Sudan, April 18, 2012. Omar al-Bashir on Wednesday declared war on South Sudan, and vowed to bring down the government of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) in Juba, at a time of escalating military confrontations on the border between the two countries. (Xinhua/Mohammed Babiker)
KHARTOUM, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese President Omar al- Bashir stressed on Thursday that fighting was the only mean to resolve the differences between his country and South Sudan, reiterating his goal to end the rule of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) in the south.
In a speech delivered in North Kordofan state and aired live by state-run Sudan TV, al-Bashir said Heglig, an oil rich town where the escalated tensions between the two sides recently took place, "will not be the end, and we have determined to resolve our matters completely in the battle field, and to settle all the accounts between the two countries."
Al-Bashir, dressed in military uniform, used the word "insect" more than once in his speech to describe the SPLM government of South Sudan.
The Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir on Wednesday declared war on South Sudan, vowing to bring down the SPLM, which he said that the north had contributed to making it the ruler of the newly independent country, which separated from Sudan last year.
"We made a mistake historically to enable the SPLM to rule the south, but we will correct this mistake, and we have a moral obligation for our people in South Sudan, that is to save them from the SPLM," al-Bashir added.
The UN Security Council on Tuesday renewed its call for Sudan to stop air strikes and for South Sudan to withdraw from Heglig, which lies on the north side of the 1956 border and was captured by the South Sudanese army.
South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit said last month that Heglig belonged to his country, but both Khartoum and the African Union denied the claim. The pan-African body, along with the UN, called for an unconditional withdrawal of the South Sudanese troops from Heglig.
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