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Sudanese president orders to open camps for Popular Defense Forces

03 March 2012 21:26 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Saturday ordered to open camps for the Popular Defense Forces ( PDF), irregular militia which fought alongside the Sudanese army in South Sudan and Darfur, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"We direct all the states’ governors to open PDF camps and equip an entire brigade of these forces, to be named the Deterrence Forces, to confront all the agents and traitors," said al-Bashir when addressing a PDF celebration.

He warned South Sudan against attempting to destabilize Sudan, saying "we are aware that their conspiracy will continue, but we are ready for them."

The Sudanese president further vowed to repulse the rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM)/northern sector at South Kordofan area, saying "we will soon liberate the area from the rebellion and our coming battle will be in Kauda (the stronghold of the SPLM which has been fighting Khartoum since June last year)."

Meanwhile, al-Bashir criticized recent statements by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in which she accused al-Bashir of destabilizing South Sudan.

He accused the United States of using the policy of carrot and stick, saying "we tell them we do not want the carrot because it is poisoned. We are also not afraid of the stick because we have been tried for over 20 years."

The relations between Sudan and South Sudan are witnessing increasing tension after Khartoum accused Juba of planning for an attack recently launched at an area in South Kordofan.

The two sides have so far failed to demarcate their joint border and they still differ over affiliation of many border areas including Jao, which has been witnessing armed clashes between the two sides since Feb. 26, and Abyei.

Khartoum is accusing South Sudan of supporting the rebel groups, which are active on the two countries’ border, to launch attacks against Sudanese territories.

Sudan and South Sudan on Feb. 10 signed a security agreement tending to avoid armed conflict between the two sides.

The agreement, which was reached in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa under the mediation of the African Union, stipulated that the two sides should respect sovereignty and territorial integrity of each other, refrain from intervention in each other’s internal affairs, reject any use of force and observe common interests and peaceful coexistence.