Franklin Graham: Sudan's al-Bashir 'Responsible for Bloodshed'
Samaritan's Purse leader asks president to reinstate aid agency work in Darfur region.
Interview by Sheryl Blunt in Washington, D.C. | posted 3/19/2009 02:11PM
Earlier in March, Franklin Graham, head of relief organization Samaritan's Purse, visited with Sudan President Omar al-Bashir just prior to the International Criminal Court (ICC) issuing an arrest warrant against the president for war crimes associated with the government's role in the Darfur conflict, where millions of lives still hang in the balance.
After Graham returned, he agreed to a lengthy interview with Christianity Today about al-Bashir and Samaritan's Purse's ministry in Sudan.
How would you describe your relationship with President al-Bashir based on the three meetings you've had?
He's a very interesting person, and no question he's a man who's responsible for a lot of the bloodshed and misery in his country. Samaritan's Purse has been the recipient of his bombing. Our hospital was bombed on seven separate occasions.
During the war, the government of Sudan targeted civilian and nonmilitary targets, hospitals, and U.N. food distribution sites. I would complain bitterly to the administration at the time. Back then it was [to] Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and U.N. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke — that they do something to intervene. I was finally invited by al-Bashir to come see him, and I did that, back in 2001. He stopped bombing the hospital.
When President George W. Bush came to power, he assigned Sen. John Danforth to be special envoy to Sudan. President Bush put a tremendous amount of pressure on al-Bashir, and not only did al-Bashir stop the bombing in the South, but because of U.S. arm twisting, he also signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
What did you and al-Bashir discuss the last time you met?
I spoke with him about church-related issues, related to the church in the North. Believers don't have the freedom there to build churches or own land. The church school diplomas are not recognized by the government. Christian children going to public schools have to attend Islamic religious classes. So I spoke to him about these issues, and said that these were not acceptable. We as Christians don't want more freedoms than Muslims; we just want the same freedoms. I spoke to him about building new churches in Khartoum, and I requested to build 10 new churches in Khartoum. He said I had permission if I would build 10 technical institutions, which I said I would do.
Were you surprised by his apparent receptiveness?
When I've been with him, he's very upfront. He says, "I want to make you Muslim." I say, "I'd like to persuade you to be a Christian." That's the difference — they want to force you, we want to persuade.
Over the last eight years, President al-Bashir has shown willingness to work for peace, [but] the CPA between the North and South has not been fully implemented. It's extremely important that that gets implemented and not renegotiated.
The situation in Darfur is much more complex. You have approximately 18 different armed groups that not only fight each other, but also fight the government. You cannot blame all of the destruction in Darfur on al-Bashir. The government of Chad is partially responsible. Libya is partially responsible. I appealed to al-Bashir to not only try to resolve the issues in Darfur, but also to take an active lead in resolving the issues and [working toward] political stability. I've [also] communicated with him since I left Sudan, asking him to reinstate the aid agencies.
Yours is not one that's been kicked out, correct?
No. Not yet.
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