Sudanese President visits Kurmuk, vows to continue military offensive - Sudanese President Omar El-Bashir on Sunday flew to a town recently recaptured by his army, in the mountainous region of the Blue Nile, and announced the military offensive there will continue until the rebellion has been crushed.

El-Bashir made the surprise visit to Kurmuk, a town which until Wednesday was under rebel control, where he performed the Muslim Eid Adha prayers. “This rebellion was nothing but a mosquito which you have now crushed,” the President was quoted by the official Sudanese agency, SUNA, as telling troops and civilians in the town after performing the Eid-El-Kabir prayer in the town. El-Bashir was Sunday quoted as urging civilians who deserted the town as a result of the military operations, which have been going on for over a month now, to return to their hometown, which he said would witness huge rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts.

“All basic services shall be secured. We do not wish to see such services provided by foreign organisations on the border areas or in the Blue Nile state, nor would we like to see our citizens living as refugees in Ethiopia,” The President said. Kurmuk is on the borderline between Sudan and Ethiopia and it is one of  two last strongholds of the rebel Sudan People liberation Army (SPLA), led by former governor of the region Malik Aggar. The President, who was accompanied by Defence Minister Gen. Abdul Rahim Hussein and the Interim Military Governor of the State, Gen. Al Hadi Bushra, announced the formation of a ministerial committee to oversee the rehabilitation of Kurmuk.

Pana 06/11/2011