Page 196 - The Winter of Islam and the Spring to Come

THE WINTER OF ISLAM AND THE SPRING TO COME
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Once again, the most important of these was Israel. Dr. Ahmed
Abdel-Halim, the Sudanese ambassador to Egypt, told the Egyptian Al-
Ahram Weekly that, "The (SPLA) gains on the battlefront are primarily
46
due to Israeli and Eritrean military assistance." Facts that emerged over
time revealed that Israel was the real source of the Christian rebels' arms,
smuggled in by the Protestant and Catholic churches hidden in coffins.

The Hunger Ploy and "Terrorist State" Deception
There is currently a war raging against the present administration in
Sudan. This war has two separate dimensions: One is the hunger ploy,
and the other the concept of "terrorist states."
From the point of view of its natural resources, Sudan is actually a
quite wealthy nation. There are uranium, gold and oil reserves, and the
land is very fertile. Yet because of the civil war of recent years, Sudan is
currently very impoverished.
Despite all its troubles, however, Sudan took a serious step in the di-
rection of redevelopment with the coming to power of a regime in 1989.
That administration, led by Sorbonne graduate Hasan al-Turabi with the
slogan "Religion is the true engine of progress," made thousands of
hectares of agricultural land arable again. Two major dam projects on the
river Nile were initiated to use Sudan's rich water resources for the irriga-
tion of 1.5 million acres along its banks and to make Sudan a major elec-
tricity-producing country. However, the country was unable to sell what
it produced as a result of these efforts because it was branded a "terrorist
nation" by obvious circles as well as the subsequent economic embargo
placed on it.
In this way, development in Sudan was and is still being prevented.
On the other hand, the Western press frequently carries news reports of
starvation in Sudan. The only region of the country experiencing hunger
is in fact certain parts of the south, itself in revolt against the central au-
thority.
The main aim behind these reports is this: Firstly to portray the gov-
ernment as responsible by engaging in propaganda about "famine in the
Sudan," and then to try to gain influence in the country by saying that hu-