http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article50900
TUESDAY 6 MAY 2014
Military cooperation with neighbouring countries protecting border: defence
minister
May 5, 2014 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's defence minister says military cooperation
agreements with neighbouring have largely contributed to the protection of
borders and reinforced diplomatic relations.
Sudanese defence minister Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein (Photo: Reuters)
Abdel Rahim Hussein told the Sudanese parliament on Monday that the
deployment of joint border patrols with Chad, Eritrea and Ethiopia deterred
rebel cross border attacks, prevented drug and weapons smugglers and
stopped criminal activities along the border.
He cited last week's rescue operation of 600 illegal migrants implemented
with the Libyan army, which conduct joint patrols in line with a military
cooperation agreement signed by the two countries since the fall of the
Gaddafi regime.
Hussein further said the recent developments in Central African Republic
(CAR) impacted negatively the performance of the tripartite force with CAR
and Chad.
However, he disclosed that contacts are taking place with the new
government in Bangui to reactivate this tripartite force.
The political instability in CAR after the collapse of Francois Bozizé
regime stopped the tripartite force. The operation is also affected by the
latent tensions between the new regime in Bangui which blames Ndjamena of
supporting the transitional regime of Michel Djotodia and his Seleka
militia.
The minister also urged to raise the salaries of Sudanese soldiers and to
increase the army budget, stressing that low salaries make the army less
attractive for the new recruits.
He added that the recruits of the mandatory military service and the
paramilitary forces of the Popular Defence Force are used to cover the
shortage of troops.
Recently MPs demanded that the defence minister brief them on the military
situation in the country generally and urged for more troops on the border
with the Central African Republic.
The Sudanese army is deployed in South Kordofan, Blue Nile and Darfur
region, plus many areas on the long border with South Sudan where Khartoum
claims that the rebels are harboured.
Analysts agree that the heavy military budget, estimated at $ 4 billion
impacts negatively the fragile Sudanese economy.
(ST)
Received on Tue May 06 2014 - 06:59:37 EDT