By Ali Ahmed al-Baghli
This commentary was published in The Arab Times on 98/04/2011
This commentary was published in The Arab Times on 98/04/2011
ARAB leaders have been flattering themselves in a nauseating way, up to the point of hypocrisy. Only Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi, in spite of his madness and aloofness, is downright frank. I was surprised at the way Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir condemned former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak when the latter’s regime collapsed, and how he launched a scathing attack against Gaddafi who will fall soon by God’s grace.
In his last visit to Qatar, Al-Bashir declared his support for the Libyan revolution against Gaddafi, while addressing the Sudanese community. He expressed concern over the spread of weapons, claiming “there are weapon arsenals in Libya, which outnumber those of the Soviet Union!” He alleged that Gaddafi supplied weapons to the Darfur Movement. He also pointed out the Libyan revolutionists thought Gaddafi employed Sudanese mercenaries, but they were actually from the Darfur Movement, some of whom have been arrested and the people of Libya now understand everything.
At the same gathering, Al-Bashir praised the current relations between Egypt and Sudan, asserting his country has been greatly benefiting from the change. He also praised the Egyptian foreign minister, saying “if we were asked to choose a foreign minister for Egypt, we would never pick anyone other than Nabel Al-Arabi.” He alleged that former Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu-Gaiz sent an official letter to his Libyan counterpart Moussa Koussa, urging him to cooperate in challenging decisions of the Doha talks on Darfur.
Al-Bashir described the Egyptian State Security Department as a criminal, asserting the Alexandria church bombing led to the collapse of the regime. He claimed the department tortured a Salafist to force him into admit responsibility for the bombing but he died. He said the mere mention of the name of former Egyptian Interior Minister Habib Al-Adely used to terrify ordinary people but he is now in detention. “God Almighty takes His time but He does not ignore the plight of His people.”
We have to say to Al-Bashir: Yes, you are right, but are you and your regime not guilty of the atrocious acts you claimed the Egyptian officials have committed? Haven’t you been committing the same for ages against the people of Sudan, who have been suffering for a long time? Did you not conspire against the people and regimes of other nations the same way that Mubarak and Gaddafi have done against you? Why didn’t we hear the truth from you when those people were in power, so that we would have at least felt that our rulers share our opinions on the corruption and tyrannical acts of other leaders?
In his last visit to Qatar, Al-Bashir declared his support for the Libyan revolution against Gaddafi, while addressing the Sudanese community. He expressed concern over the spread of weapons, claiming “there are weapon arsenals in Libya, which outnumber those of the Soviet Union!” He alleged that Gaddafi supplied weapons to the Darfur Movement. He also pointed out the Libyan revolutionists thought Gaddafi employed Sudanese mercenaries, but they were actually from the Darfur Movement, some of whom have been arrested and the people of Libya now understand everything.
At the same gathering, Al-Bashir praised the current relations between Egypt and Sudan, asserting his country has been greatly benefiting from the change. He also praised the Egyptian foreign minister, saying “if we were asked to choose a foreign minister for Egypt, we would never pick anyone other than Nabel Al-Arabi.” He alleged that former Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu-Gaiz sent an official letter to his Libyan counterpart Moussa Koussa, urging him to cooperate in challenging decisions of the Doha talks on Darfur.
Al-Bashir described the Egyptian State Security Department as a criminal, asserting the Alexandria church bombing led to the collapse of the regime. He claimed the department tortured a Salafist to force him into admit responsibility for the bombing but he died. He said the mere mention of the name of former Egyptian Interior Minister Habib Al-Adely used to terrify ordinary people but he is now in detention. “God Almighty takes His time but He does not ignore the plight of His people.”
We have to say to Al-Bashir: Yes, you are right, but are you and your regime not guilty of the atrocious acts you claimed the Egyptian officials have committed? Haven’t you been committing the same for ages against the people of Sudan, who have been suffering for a long time? Did you not conspire against the people and regimes of other nations the same way that Mubarak and Gaddafi have done against you? Why didn’t we hear the truth from you when those people were in power, so that we would have at least felt that our rulers share our opinions on the corruption and tyrannical acts of other leaders?
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