Despite the effort of the United Nations and the AUHIP, the Sudan government refused to attend the meeting called for by the AUHIP in Addis Ababa on the 4th of November. The meeting was scheduled to resolve the technical issues, mainly to reach a credible ceasefire for the duration of the campaign that would convince the families of the children to bring them to the sites of the vaccination centers and that the Sudan government will not attack them by air or by ground. As we are issuing this statement, the Sudan government launched the biggest ever campaign in the Nuba Mountains by ground and by air, sending thousands of militias to Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile and Darfur. The militias include remnants of Al Qaeda from Mali and they are heavily armed by the Iranian manufactured weapons, which are in abundance in Sudan. As of today, the SRF forces repulsed thousands of forces in four battles in South Kordofan and North Kordofan. Those militia and the mercenaries are targeting the civilian populations in Blue Nile, Nuba Mountains and Darfur in a new wave of genocide. The Sudan National Congress government is openly issuing statements from the President, the war criminal General Bashir, his Minister of Defense, who is wanted too by the ICC, and the Assistant President, Nafie Ali Nafie, who have stated throughout the last two weeks that they are going to wage their biggest and last campaign to annihilate the SRF and obviously from their previous experience, they are meaning the annihilation of the civilian population, which is why they were indicted by the ICC and that is why it is important to have a credible cessation of hostilities for the duration of the polio campaign and for the United Nations not to depend on the words of Bashir. If you trust the words of Bashir and the Minister of Defense, then you must re-visit the lists of millions of victims throughout their rule of Sudan by blood and iron. The second technical issue was to agree on how and from where to bring the vaccination into the SPLM-N territory. Obviously the families of the children will not accept a vaccination that is being transported and supervised by Khartoum institutions, the very government that is killing their children every day.
The SPLM-N is willing and ever-ready for a genuine campaign for the polio vaccination. We equally understand that Bashir was preparing for a dry-season military campaign, which has now started, and it was an open secret that this time he is using mercenary and more Iranian arsenal and that he is using his charming diplomatic offensive in the name of the polio campaign to buy time with the international community and to cover for his military campaign. It is worth mentioning that Bashir is now actively engaged in training the “Murabeten” fanatic group in Libya as well as he is actively involved in Central Africa where his ex-Minister for Investment, Elsumah Elsiddiq, is calling the shots behind the scenes in Central Africa with the Sudanese militia under his command installing the new government in Central Africa and creating a rift between Muslims and Christians in Central Africa Republic. It is upon those who believe the words of Bashir to work out the cessation of hostilities in the midst of the National Congress military offensive.
Yasir Arman
Secretary General, SPLM-N
Secretary for External Affairs, SRF
November 12, 2013