US accused of using Darfur crises to control Sudan's oil resources

Accra, July 1, GNA - The Sudanese President, Omar El-Bashir on Saturday slammed media reports of the crises in Darfur, as a vile propaganda, to prepare the grounds for the US and other external forces to take over its oil resources.

Speaking on a tele-conference witnessed by nine countries worldwide, including Ghana, Egypt and the US, President Bashir backed his posture by referring to the Iraqi war where he said President George Bush sent US troops under the pretext of looking for weapons of mass destruction.

The tele-conference coincided with the Ninth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union in Accra, where the President was expected to be part of the grand debate for the unification of Africa He said the war, which had so far claimed millions of lives including a number of US soldiers turned out to be an oil war, under the guise of "Oil for food programme."

President Bashir stuck to his opposition to peacekeepers from the West except personnel from the African Union under the auspices of the UN.

He explained that soldiers from perceived enemy states would only be interested in how to destabilise Sudan and exploit its oil resources. The Head of State, whose address in Arabic was interpreted into English said: "Sudan has the right to resist Western Security forces." He said aid workers and other Western agents were painting a gloomy picture about the Darfur situation, since it was more profitable for them to do so.

President Bashir noted that people who at one breath visited Sudan and gave a good account of Darfur, left the country to tell stories of rape and genocide and pointed accusing figures at former US Secretary of State, General Colin Powell.

He said armed robbery, ethnic conflicts and foreign interference had for a long time undermined peace and security in Darfur before he assumed political authority, noting that his administration had embraced a number of peace initiatives including the Addis Ababa Accord in 2005, which brokered the current road map.

The President noted that apart from pockets of security problems, Darfur could be described as a safe haven, saying the peace in the area made it possible for students to write this year's Sudanese Certificate Examination.

The former Military General said sanctions imposed on Sudan by the US was harming the peace process and compounding the problems in Darfur. He said the sanctions were hurting the transport industry, especially rail and air travels, which had been hit by shortage of spare parts. President Bashir said apart from his commitment towards the building of democracy in Sudan, he was also striving to keep the huge multi-cultural country, bordering about nine countries with 520 ethnic groups and languages united. "Keeping Sudan united is very important", he emphasised. 01 July 07