Central Darfur sheikh: Regime change is only solution to Sudan’s crises

Outspoken Central Darfur Sheikh Matar Younis* has said that the only solution to the crises in the country is for the National Congress Party to go, bring the perpetrators of crimes to fair trial, and recover plundered funds to the state treasury.

Sheikh Matar said in the Eid El Adha sermon in Zalingei that “the country is experiencing successive bread, health, education, fuel, and transportation crises, which can only be resolved when Khartoum regime goes to the dustbin of history”.

He stressed that “the fair cause of the Sudanese people cannot be subject to bargains, deals or political abuse, saying that the people of Darfur have paid the price of successive crises in the country through displacement, migration and immigration to various countries of the world.”

Sheikh Matar said that the Sudanese people have the right to live in security and dignity in their homeland and have the right to education, food and drink, as do the rest of the world’s people.

He expressed his thanks and appreciation to the Sudanese people in general and the people of Darfur and Zalingei, in particular, for their solidarity with him during his period of detention that had exceeded four months.

He evaluated the standing of the Darfur Bar Association, independent lawyers and journalists, as well as international and local organisations with them during the period of detention.

*Sheikh Matar Younis is a visually impaired religious teacher who was arrested by the Sudanese National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) in Zalingei city, Central Darfur on 1 April and charged with espionage. He was freed on July 26 following an international chorus for his release.