September 25, 2018
Washington DC: The American Mideast Coalition for Democracy is expressing grave concern over the US policy of gradual normalization of relations with Sudan. This includes an invitation to Sudanese Army chief Lieutenant General Kamal Abdel Marouf to come to the US for a counter-terrorism conference headed by US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford.
The government of Sudan has been lobbying the US for years to remove its listing as a state sponsor of terror, but AMCD stands in firm opposition.
“The genocidal campaign waged by the Bashir regime against the indigenous African peoples in Sudan along with the forced arabization and Islamization of Southern Sudan, Darfur, the Blue Nile region and other areas is a blood-soaked stain on the conscience of the world,” said AMCD co-chair John Hajjar. “There is no way the US should be meeting with members of Omar Al-Bashir’s military.”
The US and Sudan have been growing closer in recent years with the US acknowledging help from the regime with counter-terror operations on the region. Sanctions were lifted by the Obama administration and Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan visited Khartoum last November to continue the normalization process by pressing Bashir on the issue of human rights abuse. This coming conference marks another milestone in the process of removing Sudan’s designation as a state sponsor of terror – a move AMCD adamantly opposes.
“The intense focus on Iran has left rogue Islamist states like Sudan free to perpetrate the most egregious human rights violations imaginable – mass rape and torture, ethnic cleansing on an enormous scale, efforts to purposely starve the unwanted population, the list goes on and on,” added AMCD co-chair Tom Harb. “Sudan has perpetrated genocide against its indigenous African population. There is no other way to put it – genocide.”
Therefore AMCD calls on the Trump administration to immediately halt the normalization process and re-impose sanctions against the Bashir regime. In the words of President Trump today at the United Nations, “We believe that when nations respect the rights of their neighbors and defend the interests of their people, they can better work together to secure the blessings of safety, prosperity, and peace.” Apparently, these blessings only apply to the Arabs of Sudan in the eyes of the Bashir regime. Bashir and his henchmen’s blatant hatred for the indigenous people of Sudan has resulted in the killing of millions of innocents and must be stopped. General Marouf should not be welcomed into the USA.