MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/. The smoldering crisis in Sudan will lead to unpredictable consequences for the country and the entire region, a Russian Foreign Ministry official told TASS on Monday.
"We observe with alarm the bloody armed conflict in friendly Sudan. The capital city has become a battlefield. The population is fleeing Khartoum. Infrastructure is destroyed. Thousands of civilians have fallen victim to the violence. Many have lost their homes and possessions. The risks of a prolongation of the current devastating crisis with unpredictable consequences for both the country and the entire region are becoming increasingly visible," the official said.
He pointed out that all this is "a direct result of four years of attempts to forcibly impose artificial Western ‘democratization’ templates that are deeply alien to ordinary Sudanese, who respect their own identity and their traditional cultural and moral guidelines and values."
"Moreover, these templates are packaged in an extremely attractive wrapping, in combination with lavish promises of aid and ostensible guarantees of rapid growth of prosperity, simply because ‘all democracies flourish.’ Many have fallen for this ploy. We are now witnessing the sad results of the Arab Spring," he added.
Tensions in Sudan flared up over disagreements between army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who also leads the Sovereign Council, and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces. The main contradictions between the two factions concern the timing and methods of forming unified Sudanese Armed Forces, as well as who should be the commander-in-chief of the army: a career military officer, which Al-Burhan insists on, or an elected civilian president, as Dagalo demands. On April 15, clashes broke out between the two entities near a military base in the city of Merowe, as well as in the capital Khartoum. According to the latest statistics available from Sudan's Ministry of Health, more than 3,000 people have been killed and about 6,000 wounded since the hostilities flared up.