Khartoum attacks diplomatically and militarily over Tourit battle
Sudan, Politics, 9/10/2002

It seemed on Monday that the Sudanese government is about to start Tourist battle which was occupied by the southern Sudanese rebels on September 1st, while the Mashakos negotiations were underway.

In this regard the rebels announced that the city was exposed to violent air raids in which the Sudanese army jets and helicopters took part, in what seemed like a preparation for a land attack.

As the Sudanese army was preparing to launch a counter attack against Tourit city and dispatching reinforcements of soldiers and weapons to its mean headquarters in the city of Jouba, the spokesman for the southern rebels Samsoun Kawaji said "It was the most violent air raid since controlling Tourit." He added "I think they are trying to harass us from the air and from the ground. We will teach them a lesson," noting the heavy losses inflicted in the lines of civilians in the said raids which took place on two phases.

On Sunday, the Sudanese defense minister Bakri Hassan Saleh said that the "army is able to restore back Tourit and controlling this city will be the first step towards restoring back all areas controlled by the people's army for liberating Sudan." He stressed that the "Mujahideen will teach the people's army for liberating Sudan an unforgettable lesson." The Sudanese government has renewed its position which says it will not return back to negotiations with the Sudan People's Liberation Army before the rebels put an end to their war actions. The Sudanese daily al-Anbaa quoted the first Sudanese Vice President Ali Othman Ahmad Taha saying "there is no use for negotiations as long as the war is there."

Previous Stories:
  Sudan rejects American pressures   (9/9/2002)
  Othman meets al-Assad about Sudan's conditions   (9/9/2002)
  Egypt's relations with Sudan question of life or death   (9/7/2002)

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