From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sun Jul 05 2009 - 15:47:15 EDT
Sudan's Bashir says new plane defies sanctions
Sun Jul 5, 2009 7:00pm GMT
KHARTOUM, July 5 (Reuters) - Sudan's president said on Sunday sanctions
could not block development in his country, as he unveiled its first
home-manufactured aircraft -- a $15,000 training plane that runs on car
fuel.
President Omar Hassan al-Bashir spoke at the latest in a string of defiant
rallies mounted after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest
warrant against him in March, to face charges of masterminding atrocities in
Sudan's Darfur region.
Bashir has repeatedly sought to highlight his government's development
record since the court ruling, speaking this year at the opening of a
hydroelectric dam, a new bridge in Khartoum and Sudan's first ethanol plant,
among other projects.
On Sunday he spoke at the launch of the Safat-01 aircraft, a two-seater
propeller plane produced at Sudan's state Safat Aviation Complex, part of
the country's Ministry of Defence, according to its website.
"Sudan has its own military industry. It makes tanks, missiles and many
types of guns, all made by Sudanese hands," Bashir told hundreds of
supporters outside the plant in Wadi Sayidina military area, north of the
capital.
"Today, Sudan has entered a new industry -- aviation," he added.
Bashir did not mention the global court directly, or the Western governments
he says are supporting the legal case.
But he told the crowd in local dialect "What we are doing will enrage our
enemies," adding "sanctions cannot stop development."
He added: "They conspired, they supported rebellions, and created
rebellions. They pushed neighbouring countries, they imposed economic,
diplomatic and political sanctions and what was the result? Everyday, thanks
to God, his strength and power, we are moving forward."
The United States stepped up sanctions against in Sudan in 1997, accusing
the government of human rights abuses and supporting terrorism, then
tightening the restrictions still further in 2006 over the conflict in
Sudan's Darfur region.
The sanctions blocked most trade with the United States. But Sudan's economy
was boasting double digit annual growth before the global economic slump,
boosted by continuing investment from China and the Middle East.
The United Nations has also imposed an arms embargo, covering all warring
parties in the Darfur conflict, while the European Union has an arms embargo
covering the whole country.
Sudan's Ministry of Defence in 2007 said the country had become
self-sufficient in conventional weapons and was hoping develop its own
unmanned surveillance planes.
Managers at the Safat plant told state media before the launch the Safat-01
would be the first in a range of aircraft produced in Sudan and would be
used for training, without specifying who would be trained.
Up to 80 per cent of the parts would be made in Sudan, with the remaining
work done by Chinese and Russian partners Safat director Brigadier Mirghani
Idris told Sudan's state Suna news agency. The plane would use car fuel and
be used for training.
(Reporting by Khaled Abdel Aziz, writing by Andrew Heavens; Editing by Jon
Boyle)
C Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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