---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 9:16 AM Subject: [sudans-john-ashworth] SA soldiers held 'hostage' as guarantee for Bashir’s safe return? To: Group <[email protected]>
SA soldiers held 'hostage' in Sudan as guarantee for Al-Bashir’s safe return Times LIVE | 16 June, 2015 13:45 While the fiasco around President Omar Al-Bashir’s possible arrest in Johannesburg escalated, the Sudanese troops held about 1 400 South African soldiers in Darfur “hostage,” according to a report. The South African National Defence Union's Pikkie Greeff on Tuesday told EWN that this had been confirmed by several sources, some of them soldiers. “The Sudanese army only withdrew from their position once al-Bashir left South Africa. This would boil down to blackmail by threatening someone with war.” Greef said he has no reason to doubt the reports because they come from the soldiers. “We are concerned about the safety of our soldiers because they are there as peacekeepers and not there for conventional war. Zuma must take a firm stand on this issue,” he added. According to News24, the Sudanese government of president Omar al-Bashir literally held a gun to South Africa’s head to secure his safe return to Khartoum. According to the website, this effectively means Sudan blackmailed South Africa and the soldiers’. “Only after Al-Bashir safely touched down in Khartoum on Monday, were Sudanese troops withdrawn. One South African soldier said on Tuesday from Sudan that: “We were so scared – we were surrounded by soldiers.” Another soldier added: “Vehicles approached our bases and the commander placed us on State 2 of readiness. This meant all troops had to be in combat gear, fully armed, and positioned in bunkers and against embankments.” President Jacob Zuma is the commander-in-chief of the defence force. Bashir departed for Sudan on Monday, despite a high court order preventing him from leaving South Africa. His departure sent mixed reactions across the country, with opposition parties accusing the government of violating a court order. http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2015/06/16/SA-soldiers-held-hostage-in-Sudan-as-guarantee-for-Al-Bashir%E2%80%99s-safe-return END ______________________ John Ashworth Sudan, South Sudan Advisor [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +211 919 695 362 (South Sudan mobile) +27 79 832 8834 (South Africa mobile) +44 750 364 2508 (UK/international) +88 216 4334 0735 (Thuraya satphone) PO Box 52662 - 00100, Nairobi, Kenya This is a personal e-mail address and the contents do not necessarily reflect the views of any organisation -- -- The content of this message does not necessarily reflect John Ashworth's views. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, John Ashworth is not the author of the content and the source is always cited. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sudan-john-ashworth" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.co.za/group/sudan-john-ashworth --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sudans-john-ashworth" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sudans-john-ashworth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/d/forum/southsudankob View this message at https://groups.google.com/d/msg/southsudankob/topic-id/message-id For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/SouthSudanKob. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/SouthSudanKob/CAJb14orUGUOf1LumqWnj-jtvTwiUyZKGA-_3jXBYWdb07B_RLQ%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
