Khartoum: Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al Bashir made a rare public appeal yesterday to opposition parties to join a broad based-government just days ahead of a vote which will likely see the south move towards independence.
A January 9 referendum on secession for the oil-producing south has preoccupied Khartoum as the expected split would weaken his government. There would be a loss of goodwill among the north's majority pro-unity population as well as a weakening of its financial base with the loss of key oil revenues.
Al Bashir is the only sitting head of state indicted by the International Criminal Court accused of war crimes and genocide in the war-torn western Darfur region. This has curtailed his international travel and left him largely politically isolated.
The approach to opposition groups may be a sign Al Bashir feels increasingly pressured, although critics suggest it may be no more than window dressing, since similar moves for rapprochement have previously come to nothing.
State news agency SUNA quoted Al Bashir as calling for a "broad-based government to unite the internal front".
"I sincerely call on all the national powers and leaders of political parties to unite their hearts and minds behind one aim — strengthening the foundations of our nation and its independence far from foreign intervention," SUNA quoted Al Bashir as saying in his annual address for Sudan's independence day.
"We totally reject this," Kamal Omer, a senior official from the opposition Popular Congress Party.
