Al-Bashir: People are trying to distort Sudan’s history

Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir yesterday accused unnamed parties of attempting to distort and falsify his country’s history.

“Some entities organise systematic campaigns to falsify Sudanese history and civilisation because of the historical, geographical and cultural dimension enjoyed by our country,” Al- Bashir said during a visit to the Sudanese National Museum in the capital Khartoum.

The president announced the formation of a government committee to address the problems facing the local tourism sector and its development and rehabilitation.

He added that the government is working to restore the Sudanese antiquities which are abroad or to compel international museums to highlight their ownership.

In March, the Sudanese Information Minister and government spokesman, Ahmed Bilal, announced that a number of Sudanese history professors were reading history books to locate and correct mistakes to prove the country’s ancient civilisation.

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In May, the Ministry of Tourism announced the discovery of 196 new archaeological sites in the northern state during the first quarter of 2017 and the registration of 1,000 new artefacts at the Sudan National Museum in the past two years.

According to government data, the number of tourists in Sudan has increased reaching 741,000 tourists in 2015 and nearly one million in 2016.