Thousands of people on Wednesday demonstrated in Khartoum at a government-organised “victory” rally to denounce Darfur rebels who staged a daring attack on the capital as agents of Israel.Waving flags and banners, crowds of men, women and school children converged outside army headquarters to hear a speech from President Omar al-Beshir whose government has been fighting rebels in Darfur for more than five years. Heavily guarded by police and soldiers, the main streets outside the army compound were sealed to traffic. Protestors danced to music, denounced the rebels and shouted religious chants. Witnesses varied widely on the size of the crowd, some estimating around 7,000 people attended. Others put the figure at 15,000 to less than 20,000.
“They are executing a foreign agenda. Ask yourselves who brought the weapons, the cars, who is paying them to do this,” Beshir, dressed in military fatigues, shouted into a barrage of microphones.