Head of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan warned against attempts to "dismantle" the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), pledging to raise his country’s flag in “the occupied territories” on the disputed borders with Egypt and Ethiopia.
He accused unnamed parties of working on “kidnapping” the revolution from Sudan’s youth.
“The armed forces are with the people not against them. It will not let them down and will not allow any party to exploit it for its own interests.”
He also slammed the civilian-led executive authority, in light of its demands to take over army-run companies.
He said that 221 of Sudan's 421 state sector businesses were operating outside government control.
This is one of the divisive issues among members of the civil and military transitional government.
Addressing officers from various military units in Omdurman on the occasion of the 66th anniversary of the founding of the SAF, Burhan said that since the formation of the transitional government, the military has requested the executive authority to benefit from these companies’ funds, but no decisions have been taken in this regard.
He was alluding to comments made by the top civilian in the transitional government, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.
Hamdok complained on Friday that his ministers had control over "just 18 percent" of the state sector, seriously hampering their efforts to rescue the economy.
The prime minister returned to the issue on Saturday saying that the "return to the government of businesses owned by the military and the security services is its top priority."
Burhan held the executive body accountable for this economic failure and accused it of incitement against the military.
"Those who failed want to blame their failure on others, but no one can peg it on the army," Burhan said, adding that blaming the military was part of a broader campaign "aimed at dismantling the armed forces."
He blamed Hamdok’s government and the opposition Forces of the Declaration for Freedom and Change for the deteriorating economic conditions in the country. He said the army was ready to place businesses it owned under the control of the finance ministry.
Burhan further accused them of “neglecting to address the main issues and bickering, instead, over power and posts.”
“We asked them to take over the companies but still didn’t receive any response.”
The army and intelligence services acquired huge holdings in the state sector under ousted president Omar al-Bashir's rule, in businesses ranging from farming and livestock to private health care and pharmaceuticals.