February 11, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan has finally broken its silence over the events in Egypt, where 18 days of public protests forced President Hosni Mubarak to resign Friday after nearly 30 years in power, paying tribute to the “Egyptian revolution in order to shore up democracy.”

Egyptian anti-government protesters celebrate at Cairo’s Tahrir Square after president Hosni Mubarak stepped down on February 11, 2011 (Getty Images)

The announcement of Mubarak’s resignation by Vice-President Omar Suleiman on Friday evening sparked an outburst of joy by hundreds of thousands of Egyptians who have been protesting for three weeks in Al-Tahrir (Freedom) square in Cairo and throughout the country demanding an end to his authoritarian rule.

“In the name of God the merciful, the compassionate, citizens, during these very difficult circumstances Egypt is going through, President Hosni Mubarak has decided to step down from the office of president of the republic and has charged the high council of the armed forces to administer the affairs of the country,” Suliman said in a televised statement.

Mubarak’s departure spawned similar feelings of happiness across the Middle East and in Sudan whose youth attempted last month to stage similar protests, which were squashed by the police who used tear gas, batons and arrested dozens of demonstrators.

Sudan official news agency (SUNA) on Friday quoted the secretary of external relations at the ruling National Congress Party’s (NCP), Mustafa Osman Isma’il, as saying the government “welcomes the popular Egyptian uprising in order to shore up the pillars of democracy, rule of the people and the establishment of a powerful state.”

Isma’il further said that his party hopes that the new Egyptian revolution would “meet the aspirations of the Egyptian people as well as those of the Islamic and Arabic nation.”

He said that the NCP had been maintaining communication with all Egyptian political forces during the demonstration.

The presidency of the republic issued another statement in which it congratulated the Egyptian people on “realizing their wishes, and on the triumph of their revolution.”

“The presidency affirms its unqualified support and stands firmly by the Egyptian people in realizing their aspirations and enhancing Egypt’s position and recovering its role as a pioneering Arab, African and Islamic country,” added the statement which was also reported by SUNA.

Sudan’s relations with Egypt has seen ups and downs during the last 21 years, reaching its nadir in 1995 when a group of Islamists allegedly back by Sudan attempted to assassinate Mubarak in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. But relations between the two neighbors gradually improved after the 1999’s ousting of Islamist leader Hassan Al-Turabi, whom Egypt accuses of planning the failed attempt.

Mubarak has backed Al-Bashir in the face of charges laid against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against the background of Darfur conflict in western Sudan which killed more than 300,000 and displaced millions since it erupted in 2003, according to UN figures.

The NCP is originally an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, which was banned by Mubarak. The party has ruled Sudan since 1989 when it seized power in a military coup that toppled the government of former Prime Minister Al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, marking an epoch of political repression and curtailment of public freedom.

However, the party unclenched its fist following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement with South Sudan in 2005, allowing a small margin of freedom for political organizations and later signing a peace agreement with the opposition in Cairo.

The NCP won a landslide victory in last year’s general elections which were mired in reports of mass fraud.

In the run-up to South Sudan’s referendum on independence, which ended last month with a mass vote in favor of secession from the North, the NCP invited the opposition to join the government. But the opposition rejected the offer, demanding that the party dissolves the current government and organizes fresh elections.

In Khartoum, Egyptians celebrated the results at Gad an Egyptian restaurant on Airport road. Around 60 people waved flags and chanted as cars driving passed honked their horns in solidarity.

(ST)

Article source: http://www.sudantribune.com/Sudan-welcomes-triumph-of-Egyptian,37967