Islamists wield hidden hand in Sudan conflict. Burhan calls for Sudan’s young civilians to fight against RSF

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: This article shows a photo of Hemeti dated 2019. Not seen his face since he was demoted to a rebel. Two unverified voice messages from him are online. Can't find news of his whereabouts. Is he still alive? No-one's asking. Rumours online say he's in a Kenyan hospital, not true says Kenyan President Ruto in a recent video news report. 

Four writers of this article use the words "conflict" and "war"to describe Sudan's current crisis. Many writers casually use the words "war" and "genocide" whether true or not. Words have power. Young people now rely on social media for news, mainstream media is not seen as trustworthy. 

The article is followed by a cartoon from a report at Radio Dabanga titled 'El Burhan calls for Sudan's 'young and capable' civilians to fight against RSF'. 

The caption for the cartoon says 'Civilians who were killed for their protests against the actions of the military and Rapid Support Forces are now being asked to defend Sudan for Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan. 

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Article at Reuters.com
By Khalid Abdelaziz

Writing by Michael Georgy and Aidan Lewis, Editing by William Maclean
Published June 28, 2023, 5:05 AM GMT+1 - here is a full copy:

Exclusive: Islamists wield hidden hand in Sudan conflict, military sources say

Summary

• Ex-intelligence agents fighting alongside army-sources
• Army has leant on Bashir-era veterans since 2021 coup
• Conflict pits army general against ex-militia leader

[1/5]Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, deputy head of the military council and head of paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), greets his supporters as he arrives at a meeting in Aprag village, 60 kilometers away from Khartoum, Sudan, June 22, 2019. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo

DUBAI, June 28 (Reuters) - Thousands of men who worked as intelligence operatives under former president Omar al-Bashir and have ties to his Islamist movement are fighting alongside the army in Sudan's war, three military sources and one intelligence source said, complicating efforts to end the bloodshed.

The army and a paramilitary force have been battling each other in Khartoum, Darfur and elsewhere for 10 weeks in Africa's third largest country by area, displacing 2.5 million people, causing a humanitarian crisis and threatening to destabilise the region. Reinforcements for either side could deepen the conflict.

The army has long denied accusations by its rivals in the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that it depends on discredited loyalists of Bashir, an Islamist long shunned by the West, who was toppled during a popular uprising in 2019.

In response to a question from Reuters for this article, an army official said: "The Sudanese army has no relation with any political party or ideologue. It is a professional institution."

Yet the three military sources and an intelligence source said thousands of Islamists were battling alongside the army.

"Around 6,000 members of the intelligence agency joined the army several weeks before the conflict," said a military official familiar with the army's operations, speaking on condition on anonymity.

"They are fighting to save the country."

Former officials of the country's now-disbanded National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), a powerful institution composed mainly of Islamists, confirmed these numbers.

An Islamist resurgence in Sudan could complicate how regional powers deal with the army, hamper any move towards civilian rule and ultimately set the country, which once hosted al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, on a path for more internal conflict and international isolation.

Reuters spoke to 10 sources for this article, including military and intelligence sources and several Islamists.

In a development indicative of Islamist involvement, an Islamist fighter named Mohammed al-Fadl was killed this month in clashes between RSF forces and the army, said family members and Islamists. He had been fighting alongside the army, they said.

Ali Karti, secretary general of Sudan's main Islamic organisation, sent a statement of condolences for al-Fadl.

'OUR IDENTITY AND OUR RELIGION'

"We are fighting and supporting the army to protect our country from external intervention and keep our identity and our religion," said one Islamist fighting alongside the army.

Bashir's former ruling National Congress Party said in a statement it had no ties to the fighting and only backed the army politically.

The army accused the RSF of promoting Islamists and former regime loyalists in their top ranks, a charge the RSF denied. Army chief Abdel Fattah Burhan, who analysts see as a non-ideological army man, has publicly dismissed claims that Islamists are helping his forces. "Where are they?" he cried out to cheering troops in a video posted in May.

The military, which under Bashir had many Islamist officers, has been a dominant force in Sudan for decades, staging coups, fighting internal wars and amassing economic holdings.

But following the overthrow of Bashir, Burhan developed good ties with states that have worked against Islamists in the region, notably the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The Gulf states provided Khartoum with significant aid.

Nowadays, former NISS officers also help the military by collecting intelligence on its enemies in the latest conflict. The NISS was replaced by the General Intelligence Service (GIS) after Bashir was toppled, and stripped of its armed "operations" unit, according to a constitutional agreement.

Most of the men from that unit have sided with the army, but some former operations unit members and Islamists who served under Bashir entered the RSF, one army source and one intelligence source said.

"We are working in a very hard situation on the ground to back up the army, especially with information about RSF troops and their deployment," said a GIS official.

Reuters Graphics

BASHIR-ERA VETERANS

The army outnumbers the RSF nationally, but analysts say it has little capacity for street fighting because it outsourced previous wars in remote regions to militias. Those militias include the "Janjaweed" that helped crush an insurgency in Darfur and later developed into the RSF.

Nimble RSF units have occupied large areas of Khartoum and this week took control of the main base of the Central Reserve Police, a force that the army had deployed in ground combat in the capital. They seized large amounts of weaponry.

But the army, which has depended mainly on air strikes and heavy artillery, could benefit from GIS intelligence gathering skills honed over decades as it tries to root out the RSF.

On June 7, fire engulfed the intelligence headquarters in a disputed area in central Khartoum. Both sides accused the other of attacking the building.

After Burhan and RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, carried out a coup in 2021 which derailed a transition to democracy, Hemedti said the move was a mistake and warned it would encourage Islamists to seek power.

Regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and the UAE had seen Sudan's transition towards democracy as a way to counter Islamist influence in the region, which they consider a threat.

Publicly, the army has asserted its loyalty to the uprising that ousted Bashir in 2019.

But after the military staged a coup in 2021 that provoked a resurgence of mass street protests, it leaned on Bashir-era veterans to keep the country running. A taskforce that had been working to dismantle the former ruling system was disbanded.

Before the outbreak of violence, Bashir supporters had been lobbying against a plan for a transition to elections under a civilian government. Disputes over the chain of command and the structure of the military under the plan triggered the fighting.

About a week after fighting broke out in April, a video on social media showed about a dozen former intelligence officials in army uniforms announcing themselves as reserve forces.

The footage could not be independently verified by Reuters.

Several senior Bashir loyalists walked free from prison in Bahri, across the Nile from central Khartoum, during a wider prison break amid fighting in late April. The circumstances of their release remain unclear. Bashir is in a military hospital.

[2/5]Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir addresses supporters during his visit to the war-torn Darfur region, in Bilal, Darfur, Sudan September 22, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo

[3/5]A Sudanese national flag is attached to a machine gun of Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) soldiers as they wait for the arrival of Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, deputy head of the military council and head of RSF, before a meeting in Aprag village 60, kilometers away from Khartoum, Sudan, June 22, 2019. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo 

[4/5]A burned vehicle is seen in Khartoum, Sudan April 26, 2023. REUTERS/El-Tayeb Siddig/File Photo

[5/5]Sudan's General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan walks with troops, in an unknown location, in this picture released on May 30, 2023. Sudanese Armed Forces/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

View original: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/islamists-wield-hidden-hand-sudan-conflict-military-sources-say-2023-06-28/

[Ends]

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Post script from Sudan Watch Editor:

Cartoon by Omar Dafallah, published in Radio Dabanga's report below.

Caption: Civilians who were killed for their protests against the actions of the military and Rapid Support Forces are now being asked to defend Sudan for Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan 

- Cartoon by Omar Dafallah (RD)

Read more in report at Radio Dabanga, Thur 29 Jun 2023: El Burhan calls for Sudan’s ‘young and capable’ civilians to fight against RSF https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/el-burhan-calls-for-sudans-young-and-capable-civilians-to-fight-against-rsf )

[Ends]

- - -

UPDATED Fri 30 Jun 2023 00:25 GMT+1 - added the following:

Report at Sudan Tribune

Published Tues 27 Jun 2023 - here is an excerpt:

Burhan calls on Sudanese youth to join the army

Sudan’s political parties have called for an end to the war and negotiations to integrate the RSF ahead of an inclusive political conference. For their part, the armed groups in Darfur that have signed a peace deal have declared their neutrality.

The SPLM-N, led by Malik Agar, is now fighting alongside the army after its full integration. In contrast, the SPLM-N led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu in the Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile has recently launched attacks against the Sudanese army, speaking about its failure to protect civilians.

Al-Burhan announced a one-day truce on the first day of Eid and reaffirmed the commitment of the armed forces to transfer power to a civilian government chosen by the Sudanese people. He further denounced the ongoing violations against civilians in Darfur as “ethnic cleansing and genocide.”

Read more: https://sudantribune.com/article274719/

[Ends]

Britain to blacklist Russia Wagner group as terrorists - Mercenaries given same status as Isis and al-Qaeda

Britain is poised to formally proscribe the Wagner group of mercenaries as a terrorist organisation to increase pressure on Russia

Proscription would make it a criminal offence to belong to Wagner, attend its meetings, encourage support for it or carry its logo in public, putting it on the same footing as groups such as Islamic State and al-Qaeda

It would also impose financial sanctions, which would be significant because the group and all its members would be barred from using UK courts to silence journalists and campaigners. Officials said it would have implications for Wagner’s ability to raise money if any funds went through British financial institutions

More recently, there have been fears the group could try to expand its presence in Sudan as the country slides towards civil war

Read more from The Times

By Steven Swinford, Political Editor 

Matt Dathan, Home Affairs Editor

George Grylls, Defence Reporter

Dated Wednesday May 10 2023, 12.01am - full copy:

Britain to blacklist Russia’s Wagner group as terrorists

Mercenaries will be given same status as Isis and al-Qaeda

Britain is poised to formally proscribe the Wagner group of mercenaries as a terrorist organisation to increase pressure on Russia.

The group has played a central role in President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and is leading attempts to take the eastern town of Bakhmut, which has become a focus of the war for both sides.

A government source said that, after two months of building a legal case, proscription of the group was “imminent” and likely to be enacted within weeks.

Proscription would make it a criminal offence to belong to Wagner, attend its meetings, encourage support for it or carry its logo in public, putting it on the same footing as groups such as Islamic State and al-Qaeda.

It would also impose financial sanctions, which would be significant because the group and all its members would be barred from using UK courts to silence journalists and campaigners. Officials said it would have implications for Wagner’s ability to raise money if any funds went through British financial institutions.

Meanwhile, Putin launched a fresh tirade against the West during a scaled-back Victory Day parade in Moscow to commemorate the end of the Second World War. He accused the West of “unleashing war against Russia” and said supporters of Ukraine included “neo-Nazi scum”.

There were signs, however, of the toll the Ukraine war had taken on the Russian army. In Moscow just one tank took part in the parade on Red Square — a Second World War-era Soviet T-34 — and planned celebrations in at least 21 Russian cities were cancelled.

Wagner, often referred to as a private military company, is a group of mercenaries accused of human rights abuses that came to international attention after the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014. It is led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, an ex-convict and former hotdog seller known as “Putin’s chef”.

Prigozhin, 61, was able to use British courts to bring a libel case against Eliot Higgins, a British journalist, after revelations by his website Bellingcat about the group’s shadowy operations. The case collapsed in March last year after the outbreak of war in Ukraine and personal sanctions imposed on Prigozhin, but government sources said it was an example of how proscription could help to prevent Wagner’s influence and operations in the UK.

For many years Wagner was closely linked with the Kremlin but the invasion of Ukraine has led to strains in the relationship between Prigozhin and Putin. In an expletive-strewn outburst last week, Prigozhin said “scumbag” Russian generals were responsible for the deaths of Wagner fighters as he accused them of depriving them of ammunition in the nine-month battle for Bakhmut.

The Bakhmut offensive has cost Moscow thousands of casualties. Wagner, which is using prisoners to fight alongside its professional recruits, has sustained many of the losses.

As well as the war in Ukraine, the group has been involved in numerous conflicts across Africa and the Middle East — fighting for control of goldmines in the Central African Republic and helping to prop up President Assad’s regime in Syria. More recently, there have been fears the group could try to expand its presence in Sudan as the country slides towards civil war.

There has not been evidence that Wagner or individuals linked to it are operating in the UK since the war in Ukraine started and proscription is largely seen as a symbolic move. However, a government source said there had been “suspicions” that the group had helped launder money out of the UK along with organised crime groups after financial sanctions were imposed against Russian oligarchs and Putin allies in the wake of the war.

In order to proscribe the group, the Home Office would need to build a case for why the legal step was required, which could include references to classified intelligence.

Some Whitehall sources expressed cynicism over the move, given the lack of involvement of Wagner in the UK. One source said: “I don’t suppose anyone walks around London saying ‘I’m a member of the Wagner Group’. This sounds more like someone in government itching to find something else to punish Putin with.”

David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, said: “It is only right that the government appears to be finally listening to Labour’s calls for its proscription as a terrorist organisation.”

IMAGE 

GRAPH MAP

PHOTO

Wagner is still recruiting heavily in Russia

MAXIM SHIPENKOV/EPA

PHOTO

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, has accused Russian generals of causing the deaths of his fighters in Bakhmut through ammunition shortages

AFP/GETTY IMAGES

View original: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/government-russian-wagner-group-africa-putin-war-2023-rtfjcwjxb

Hundreds of political detainees still imprisoned in Sudan - New mass marches called for November 25

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: Incredibly brave Sudanese civilians will be taking to the streets to participate in a new mass march in the country's capital Khartoum on Thursday 25 November 2021. It will be the first test of the junta's sincerity and its agreement with newly reinstated Prime Minister Hamdok. It stands to reason that the junta will be keen to avoid being linked to any violations against peaceful protestors. 

Various peaceful protests in the past in Khartoum were infiltrated by criminal elements and gangs in disguise - even to the extent of wearing stolen military or police uniforms - organised by people with something to gain from ruining peace deals by arranging for infiltrators to violate protestors or act as protestors inciting violence in order to cause conflict and mistrust between signatories of peace deals. 

What's different this time is the sophisticated satellite and communications technology that is used by powerful nations around the world. Millions of people work hard to help Sudan and its people. The world will be watching with ways to identify spoilers, imposters and perpetrators of crimes. 

Please god keep everyone and PM Hamdok safe and strong. PM Hamdok is a good, decent, honourable man who wants the best for Sudan and its people. He is well connected with many supporters and peacemakers in high places around the world. It is in the world's interest that Sudan becomes stable. 

Here is a full copy of a must-read report at and by Radio Dabanga.org

Dated Wednesday 24 November 2021 - KHARTOUM / EL GEDAREF / DARFUR

Hundreds still detained in Sudan – new mass marches called for tomorrow

• 
• IMAGE: Poster calling for renewed Marches of the Millions tomorrow [Nov 25, 2021]

• While the military junta in Sudan has released some detainees, several are still imprisoned, despite the undertaking in the political agreement signed in Khartoum on Sunday by Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan and Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, that stipulates the release of all political detainees. The resistance forces have called on the public to take to the streets again tomorrow in an unrelenting campaign of civil disobedience to the coup, and the political agreement.
• On Tuesday morning, Military Intelligence held Moataz Abdallah, leading member of the Salvation Initiative, from his shop in El Koada Market in El Gedaref.
• In Sennar, the authorities detained on Tuesday Ghazi Abdallah, Zaher Hasan and Mohamed Jibril, members of the Resistance Committees of Abu Hajjar, and took them to an unknown location.
• In East Darfur, the authorities detained four members of the resistance committees in Yasin locality on Monday.
• In El Gedaref, on Monday evening, the authorities released five detainees held during the November 21 Marches of the Millions, including members of resistance committees, a teacher and a member of the Salvation Initiative. One of them, Waliedin Abdelgadir, a member of the Resistance Committees, was severely beaten, which led to his serious injury, activists pointed out.
• The court of El Obeid, capital of North Kordofan, acquitted 19 members of the resistance committees of the charges brought against them under the State of Emergency laws. Activist Mohamed Ahmed told Radio Dabanga that the court acquitted the members of the resistance committees who had been detained earlier when they were holding public speeches at markets to announce the November 17 Marches of the Millions.
• He explained that the authorities detained about four activists in the department in a malicious report. He noted the continuation of the resistance committees in their nightly and propaganda parades and their preparations for the November 25 Marches of the Millions.
• Darfur Bar Association
• The Darfur Bar Association (DBA) reported that there are more than 250 detainees in police stations, detention centres and prisons in Khartoum, and many other detainees in the states.
• During a meeting of its delegation with the head of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Volker Perthes, on Tuesday at his workplace, the DBA called for the international community to follow up on the conditions of detainees and to demand the immediate release of all detainees.
• The lawyers explained that the failure to hold the perpetrators accountable for the killing of peaceful demonstrators encouraged the widespread phenomenon of systematic killing and impunity.
• The DBA warned that the current coup scene may be repeated after the end of the second transitional period. “The partnership balance is currently imbalanced in favour of the military component, which is devoted to disrupting the democratic transition.” The Association called for the continuation of international oversight and measures on the status quo to secure the democratic transition in Sudan and to protect civilians.
• Lawyers demo
• Lawyers organised a demonstration on Tuesday in front of the Supreme Court in Khartoum to protest against the killing of demonstrators and the urgent demand for retribution and the rejection of military coups. The participants in the demonstration chanted slogans calling for the immediate release of the detainees. Others denounced the military coup. It demands the lifting of the State of Emergency.
• Zain telecommunications company employees carried out a protest vigil in response to the call of the Information and Communications Technology Syndicate, rejecting the military coup and denouncing the blocking of social networking sites.
• In Sennar, lawyers organised a protest in front of the Sennar court on Tuesday, rejecting the coup. In Kassala, medical and health cadres organised a protest sit-in, rejecting the coup and denouncing the coup.
• November 25 marches
• The Khartoum Resistance Committees announced that the agreement between El Burhan and Hamdok does not concern them in anything and affirmed their adherence to their firm position that there is no negotiation, no partnership, no bargaining.
• In a statement, the Khartoum Resistance Committees called on the masses of the Sudanese people to come out on November 25 “in honour of the martyrs” and for “the overthrow of the military and civilian coup d'état”. The Committees will publish the tracks of the Marches of the Millions through its field committees in the neighbourhoods.
• The Khartoum Resistance Committees called on the masses of Sudanese abroad to demonstrate in front of embassies and international bodies, in refusal to legitimise the coup and affirming the Sudanese's rejection of any international support provided to the coup plotters.
• The Central Council of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) considers the political agreement between El Burhan and Hamdok as an extension of the coup measures announced by El Burhan on October 25
• In a press statement after the Central Council’s meeting on Monday, the FFC reiterated their rejection of the agreement as a response to the goals and pacts of the December revolution.
• The Sudanese Professionals Association said that the El Burhan-Hamdok agreement means accepting the guardianship of the Military Council over the political process. The move is considered a serious setback, and “could lead to a new coup”.
• View original: https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/hundreds-still-detained-in-sudan-new-mass-marches-called-for-tomorrow

Sudan: Getting quick debt relief & credit seems bleak

• On his return from his recent trip to Washington DC, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said that the transitional government will be closing the offices of both Hamas and Hezbollah, designated by the US as terrorist groups.
• By remaining on the list, Sudan is prevented from accessing the much-need $10bn in aid it was hoping to raise to repair the battered economy.
• According to professor David Shinn, a former US diplomat and an expert on Sudanese affairs, the US is keeping Sudan on the SST list to see how the transitional government will bring the RSF under its control. 
• As it will take more than three years to remove Sudan from the SST list, the hope to get immediate debt relief and credit seems bleak. Read more:

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

Sudan needs US support – both diplomatic and economic

Opinion Piece from The Africa Report.com

Published Monday 10 February 2020 09:51, updated Tuesday 11 February 2020 16:10

By Jihad Mashamoun (pictured below) Doctoral candidate of Middle East Politics within the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies of the University of Exeter, England, United Kingdom

The Sudanese government is working hard to get itself removed from the US list of State Sponsors of Terrorism (SST) in order to get much-needed investment into the country.

On his return from his recent trip to Washington DC, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said that the transitional government will be closing the offices of both Hamas and Hezbollah, designated by the US as terrorist groups.

By remaining on the list, Sudan is prevented from accessing the much-needed $10bn in aid it was hoping to raise to repair the battered economy.

Although Hamdok’s visit to the US was certainly positive – the US agreed to upgrade its diplomatic representation to the ambassador level – removing Sudan from the US list will take longer than the three-year period of the transitional government.

So what are the implications of the US keeping Sudan in its SST list? How could the US help Sudan overcome those obstacles?

From a distance

As the US does not want the bloody crackdown on protesters of 3 June to occur again, Makila James, deputy assistant secretary for East Africa and the Sudans, has informed US House officials that the government is looking at options including sanctions should similar events occur.

That pressured the Transitional Military Council (TMC) to reach an agreement with the opposition. However, the US remains uneasy about the inclusion of the military in the transition process.

That is because the transitional process includes military elements of the former regime of president Omar al-Bashir.

Those elements include Lt. General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, the former chairman of the TMC, and Lt. General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo ‘Hemeti’, former deputy chairman of the TMC and who is the commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Both military leaders have been implicated in the genocide that took place in Darfur in 2014 [Sudan Watch Ed: stating that genocide took place in Darfur in 2014 is an error, it should read 2004 not 2014 - also, as far as I am aware, genocide in Darfur has not been proven in a court of law. In my view, the Darfur war, reportedly starting in 2003, was a horrific counter-insurgency costing 300,000-400,000 lives and badly affecting and displacing millions of other Darfuris]. Moreover, the independence of Lt. General Hemeti and his RSF from the Sudanese Armed Forces has been a cause of concern US officials, especially since the emptying of the protest site in front of the Sudanese military headquarters on 3 June.

According to professor David Shinn, a former US diplomat and an expert on Sudanese affairs, the US is keeping Sudan on the SST list to see how the transitional government will bring the RSF under its control.

What about the security establishment?

Another point of concern for US officials is the hold of the former regime over the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), which has been recently revamped into the General Intelligence Services (GIS).

The US included Sudan on the SST list in 1990s even though its Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had joint operations with the NISS, which was headed by Salah Abdallah ‘Gosh’ at the time. In 2005, the CIA flew him into its headquarters as a reward for Sudan’s support in detaining suspected militants and providing information on Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda following the 11 September 2001 attacks.

In the 1990s, Sudan invited and hosted Bin Laden. The US had deemed him a threat for his planning of the attack on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The US attack on the Shifa pharmaceutical factory in 1998 was a turning point where Sudan abandoned Bin Laden by attempting to hand him over to the CIA.

Thereafter, the Bashir regime decided to work with the US intelligence agencies to repair the relationship between the two countries and to remove Sudan from the SST list.

One of the central individuals who was tasked with supporting ties with the US was the controversial Salah Gosh. He and the Bashir regime helped the CIA in counter-terrorism operations.

With the removal of Salah Gosh from his position as head of the NISS, the US has concerns about its counter-terrorism partner.

On 2 December, Cameron Hudson, who was a former US diplomat and former chief of staff of the George Bush administration, said the US worries that Salah Gosh has supporters who could undermine the country’s reform efforts.

The recent mutiny of the operations unit of the GIS shows that the US’s fears were well founded.

That is because it became apparent that Lt. General Mustafa Abubakr Dambalab, who was appointed as the chief of the GIS, was a supporter of Salah Gosh. 

Salah Gosh founded the operations unit of the NISS in 2005.

Sources say Salah Gosh manipulated the operations unit to mutiny and to try to instigate a coup as Lt. General Hemeti on 13 January 2020.

Sailing into safer waters

As the recent mutiny has shown that the supporters of the former regime will continue to threaten the transition process by creating insecurity, it is apparent that the inclusion of Sudan on the SST list is also threatening the transition process.

As it will take more than three years to remove Sudan from the SST list, the hope to get immediate debt relief and credit seems bleak.

However, to help guide Sudan’s transitional process into safe waters, there are a series of immediate measures that could satisfy the immediate goals of both Sudan and the US:

• 1.  As fellow Sudanese have understandably great expectations, the US could help Hamdok’s government in managing the expectations of the population by appointing a pro-active ambassador.
• It is recommended that the ambassador work with both the Sudanese government and the governing Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces party in communicating clearly what the US expects from Sudan.
• 2.  The US could help address Sudan’s security problems by working with its regional allies to hand over Salah Gosh and other members of the former regime to Sudan so that they can face prosecution for the crimes they committed against the people since 30 June 1989.
• 3.  While Hamdok’s government has been operating with public support so far, removing fuel and food subsidies to balance the books will undermine it. Therefore, rather than following policies driven by the narrow economic agenda of the World Bank and IMF, the government and the international community could work together in retrieving the billions of dollars that the former regime leaders have stashed outside Sudan.

View Original: https://www.theafricareport.com/23171/sudan-needs-us-support-both-diplomatic-and-economic/

CAR: "LRA is now a terrorist organisation like Al-Qaeda" - ICC Ocampo: "Violence it is not a ticket to power, but to The Hague"

THE African Union (AU) is helping four nations in central Africa build an international army to corner cross-border guerrillas in the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

This new army, with soldiers from Uganda, Sudan, Central Africa Republic (CAR) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) will pursue the LRA across borders. AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Ramtane Lamara says it's an encouraging plan that the AU will back.

At a meeting held 13-14 October 2010 in the CAR aimed at promoting a joint approach to the LRA, participants agreed to take steps to have the LRA classified as terrorists, rather than rebels, by the AU.

This would give affected countries greater access to international funds and require increased levels of judicial cooperation.

The representatives from Uganda, DR Congo and Sudan met in Bangui, CAR on Wednesday 13 October and Thursday 14 October, along with Kenya, where they also agreed to step up joint military action.

"Participants agreed to the following concrete measures: the creation of a joint centre of operations, the creation of a joint taskforce to lead actions against the LRA, and the deployment of joint border patrols," the AU said in a statement.

Ministers from the four countries affected by LRA attacks decided to establish the joint brigade - which would be backed by the AU - to go after the rebels.

They said they would also set up a joint operations centre, which would facilitate the exchange of information and intelligence.

The plan also envisages joint border patrols. All this would be co-ordinated by a special AU representative.

A diplomatic source contacted by the BBC says the plan also relies on Nigeria and South Africa - the only two African nations that have the logistical capacity to bring the plan to fruition.

This announcement is the first step towards the long-awaited creation of a mobile brigade that the AU can call on in times of trouble, the BBC World Service's Africa editor Martin Plaut says.

He says that although the AU statement only mentions the LRA, there are suggestions that this brigade could provide a blueprint for cross-border operations against al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, which is currently plaguing areas of Mali and Mauritania.

According to a news report by Press TV (see copy below) the LRA has headed for Darfur region in Sudan, amid calls for their arrest on charges of war crimes, an archbishop says. Excerpt:

The Catholic Archbishop Juan José Aguirre Munos of Bangassou city in southeast of Central African Republic announced that the LRA have recently attacked the town of Birao in the northeast --which borders Darfur -- of the country.

"I know for a fact that the largest group of LRA fighters has left the area in my diocese to head north. Among them is probably their leader, Joseph Kony," a Press TV correspondent quoted the archbishop as saying on Friday, 15 October 2010.

Source: See reports below.
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Five Noteworthy Quotes

"LRA rebels to be given 'terrorist' status" -African Union (Source: AFP report, 17 Oct 2010 - see copy below).
- - -

"The LRA is now a terrorist organisation like Al-Qaeda. Thus, it is urgent today to put an end to the atrocities of this rebellion." -CAR Defence Minister Jean-Francis Bozize at African Union session on 14 October 2010 in Bangui, CAR. (Source: AFP report, 14 Oct 2010 - see copy below).
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"The worst enemies of Africa are African themselves. Those who pick up guns, munitions and other deadly weapons to killed citizens pretending saving the people from injustice or dictatorship.
But how many innocent people killed before to get to power and sometime never? These LRA, Al Qaeda in north Africa and all the rebel movement and any other thieves, bribery, embezzlement culprits have to be hunt down from Africa." -Anonymous commenter (Source: Comment at AFP report, 14 Oct 2010 - see copy below).
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"Kenya's case is a signal that if you produce massive violence it is not a ticket to power, but to The Hague." -ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo (Source: Daily Nation report, 22 Oct 2010 - see excerpt below).
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"Governments which shall come to power through unconstitutional means shall not be allowed to participate in the activities of the Union." -Article 30 on Suspension, African Union, Constitutive Act done at Lomé, Togo, 11 July 2000. (Source: International Law, 03 October 2010 www.dipublico.com.ar)

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VIOLENCE IS NOT A TICKET TO POWER, BUT TO THE HAGUE

According to a report by Daily Nation published Friday, 22 October 2010, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is working towards using the Kenyan case as a deterrent to other African countries against use of violence as a means of getting into power. Excerpt:

Already, officials from the ICC have been to Guinea, which is planning its elections, and Cote d'voire to impress upon the leaders to hold peaceful elections.

"Kenya's case is a signal that if you produce massive violence it is not a ticket to power, but to The Hague," the ICC prosecutor said.

Mr Ocampo, however, admitted that he is working against 'strong elements' who still perpetuate the idea that committing atrocities is a way of gaining power.

Read full story at Daily Nation, 22 Oct 2010, reprinted today at Kenya Watch:"Kenya: Four to Stand Hague Trial Over Poll Violence This Year"
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THE LRA IS NOW A TERRORIST ORGANISATION LIKE AL-QAEDA

Ugandan rebel group threatens expanded violence in Darfur
Source: Catholic Culture.org
Date: Thursday, 14 October 2010. Excerpt:

The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), the armed group that has waged a campaign of terror and human-rights violations beginning in northern Uganda and spreading through central Africa, has now set its sights on the already troubled Darfur province of Sudan, an African archbishop has warned.

Archbishop Juan José Aguirre Muños of Bangassou in the Central African Republic told the Fides news service that LRA troops have attacked towns in his country, and now are headed north toward the uncontrolled border of Sudan. The LRA has long been involved in skirmishes in southern Sudan, near its original stronghold in northern Uganda. The move westward into Darfur could exacerbate the bloodshed that already plagues the province.

The LRA, which was originally regarded as a rebel group in Uganda, is led by Joseph Kony, who will face multiple human-rights charges before an international court if and when he is apprehended.

Bishop Muños reported that the LRA troops headed toward Darfur include a number of child soldiers. The group has made a practice of kidnapping children from the towns it raids and pressing them into service in combat.

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'Uganda's LRA heads for Sudan's Darfur'
Source: Press TV
Date: Friday, 15 October 2010 7:39AM:

Photo: Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)

The Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has headed for the already restive Darfur region in Sudan, amid calls for their arrest on charges of war crimes, an archbishop says.

The Catholic Archbishop Juan José Aguirre Munos of Bangassou city in southeast of Central African Republic announced that the LRA have recently attacked the town of Birao in the northeast --which borders Darfur -- of the country.

"I know for a fact that the largest group of LRA fighters has left the area in my diocese to head north. Among them is probably their leader, Joseph Kony," a Press TV correspondent quoted the archbishop as saying on Friday.

"In recent months, the LRA have attacked towns like Yalinga, then continuing north up to Birao, located in the far northeastern part of the country, on the border with Sudan's Darfur region," Munos stressed.

Meanwhile, Uganda's New Vision newspaper reported on its website Kony has entered the troubled Darfur region of Sudan.

“He is in Darfur, he crossed two weeks ago into southern Darfur,” said army spokesperson Lt. Col. Felix Kulayigye was quoted on Thursday.

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UN agency sounds alarm over terror campaign by rebels in central Africa
Source: UN News Centre
Date: Friday, 15 October 2010:

The United Nations refugee agency today expressed concern over population displacement resulting from attacks perpetrated by the notorious Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in the Central African Republic and neighbouring countries.

The latest raid occurred in the town of Birao in the north of the Central African Republic (CAR) last Sunday, during which the rebels abducted a number of girls, looted property and set shops on fire, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson Adrian Edwards told reporters in Geneva.

“The LRA’s campaign of terror against civilians has intensified since September,” with attacks in the CAR, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and southern Sudan, he said.

Northeastern DRC has seen at least six attacks and three ambushes in the last few weeks, all in Haut Uélé district. In a single village, Nambiongo, 21 people were killed and were 2,500 displaced, while fear prompted 2,000 people to flee Dungu, the district headquarters.

In southern Sudan, the LRA also attacked the villages of Ribodo and Nahua in Western Equatoria state on 4 September, killing eight people and displacing 2,600.

So far this year, the group, whose origins are in Uganda, has carried out more than 240 deadly attacks against civilians in the countries where it is active. At least 344 people have been killed.

People living in remote villages are often the victims of the group’s violence, including indiscriminate killings, abductions, rape, mutilation, looting and destruction of property.

Insecurity and poor infrastructure hamper the carrying out of needs assessments and the delivery of aid to affected communities. Many people are traumatized and too scared to return to their farms to cultivate their land, rendering them dependent of humanitarian aid, according to UNHCR.

“This means they will continue to depend on outside help for the foreseeable future,” Mr. Edwards said.

Since December 2008, the LRA has murdered 2,000 people, abducted more than 2,600 and displaced over 400,000, UNHCR said. An estimated 268,000 remain displaced in Orientale province in northeastern DRC, over 120,000 in Western Equatoria in southern Sudan and 30,000 in the southeast of the CAR.

There are also more than 24,000 civilians who have been forced into exile.

UNHCR assists those uprooted by LRA violence by providing emergency shelter, healthcare and psycho-social counselling. The agency supports host communities with water and sanitation facilities.

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Central Africa says 'fight LRA like Al-Qaeda'
Source: AFP (reprinted by StarAfrica.com)
Date: Thursday, 14 October 2010 16:05 GMT:

The Central African Republic called Thursday for the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) to be treated and fought like Al-Qaeda, in an appeal made at an African Union meeting.

"The LRA is now a terrorist organisation like Al-Qaeda. Thus, it is urgent today to put an end to the atrocities of this rebellion," Defence Minister Jean-Francis Bozize told AFP at the conference in the capital Bangui.

The meeting, which began on Wednesday and was being attended by other countries affected by LRA activity, "aims to evaluate the security, economic and humanitarian aspects of the LRA presence" in the CAR, Bozize said.

The LRA emerged in 1998 in northern Uganda as a rebel movement dedicated to overthrowing the east African country's government and establishing a regime to uphold the Biblical Ten Commandments.

Today however it is infamous for atrocities against civilians, including massacres, and has moved from Uganda to South Sudan, the CAR and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Its leaders are wanted for war crimes.

CAR Foreign Minister Antoine Gambi told AFP that "for us, LRA elements are terrorists exactly like Al-Qaeda. The international community must not be stingy with the means to help Centrafrica to get rid of the insecurity created by this rebellion."

At the opening of the meeting, President Francois Bozize denounced the "incursions, pillage, massacres, rapes, hostage takings and villages that are systematically burned down" by the LRA in four regions of the poor landlocked country, national radio reported.

"I formulate the hope that this session will end in proposals and solutions adequate (to deal with) this recurring question," Bozize said.

The Bangui meeting was attended by representatives of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan -- all affected by the rebel group founded by Joseph Kony.

There were also delegates from Kenya, which is the current president of the AU Peace and Security Council, according to a document of the pan-African organisation.

Also present were members of regional organisations, humanitarian bodies and the United States, the document said.

The AU wants to "show the solidarity of the continent with the CAR and places the emphasis on shared responsibility faced with the LRA issue," AU Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra said, quoted by national radio.

"This session should come up with audacious conclusions that orient us towards action against the LRA," Lamamra said.

In December 2008, the Ugandan army launched a surprise offensive against the LRA in the far northeast of the DR Congo. The operation failed to capture Kony, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, and neutralise the LRA, which reformed in several groups.

Since 2009, Ugandan soldiers have been hunting down the LRA in the CAR with the Bangui government's approval, but the rebels still manage brutal attacks against civilians and take hostages as forced labour.

On Wednesday, the International Crisis Group research institute stated that it believed that Kony is in Darfur in west Sudan. Sudan has not authorised Uganda to pursue Kony in Darfur, according to the ICG.

Comment on this article
President 14/10/10 16:22:

"The worst enemies of Africa are African themselves. Those who pick up guns, munitions and other deadly weapons to killed citizens pretending saving the people from injustice or dictatorship.
But how many innocent people killed before to get to power and sometime never? These LRA, Al Qaeda in north Africa and all the rebel movement and any other thieves, bribery, embezzlement culprits have to be hunt down from Africa."

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CAR, DR CONGO, SUDAN AND UGANDA WILL FORM A BRIGADE TO PURSUE THE LRA

LRA rebels to be given 'terrorist' status: African Union
Source: AFP
Date: Sunday, 17 October 2010. Excerpt:

LIBREVILLE — Central African countries plagued by the brutal rebellion of the Lord's Resistance Army are working to reclassify the group as terrorists, the African Union said on Saturday.

At a meeting this week in the Central African Republic aimed at promoting a joint approach to the LRA, participants agreed to take steps to have the LRA classified as terrorists, rather than rebels, by the AU.

This would give affected countries greater access to international funds and require increased levels of judicial cooperation.

The group has killed about 2,000 people in the last two years, and displaced more than 400,000, according to the UN.

Representatives from Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan met in Bangui on Wednesday and Thursday, along with Kenya, where they also agreed to step up joint military action.

"Participants agreed to the following concrete measures: the creation of a joint centre of operations, the creation of a joint taskforce to lead actions against the LRA, and the deployment of joint border patrols," the AU said in a statement. [...]



Photo: An armed fighter of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) stands guard (AFP)

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Four African nations crack down on LRA
Source: BBC News online
Date: Saturday, 16 October 2010 - excerpt:

Four African nations have agreed to form a joint military force to fight Lord's Resistance Army rebels, the African Union says.

It says the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Uganda will form a brigade to pursue the militants.

The LRA, which originated in Uganda 20 years ago, has recently mounted deadly attacks in all four countries.

It now targets towns some 1,000km (600 miles) away from Uganda, the UN says. [...]

The action plan to fight the LRA was agreed at Friday's high-level meeting in Bangui - the capital of the Central African Republic, the AU said in a statement. The statement did not mention figures, but a brigade is commonly though to include at least 1,000 men.

Ministers from the four countries affected by LRA attacks decided to establish the joint brigade - which would be backed by the AU - to go after the rebels.

They said they would also set up a joint operations centre, which would facilitate the exchange of information and intelligence.

The plan also envisages joint border patrols. All this would be co-ordinated by a special AU representative.

A diplomatic source contacted by the BBC says the plan also relies on Nigeria and South Africa - the only two African nations that have the logistical capacity to bring the plan to fruition.

This announcement is the first step towards the long-awaited creation of a mobile brigade that the AU can call on in times of trouble, the BBC World Service's Africa editor Martin Plaut says.

He says that although the AU statement only mentions the LRA, there are suggestions that this brigade could provide a blueprint for cross-border operations against al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, which is currently plaguing areas of Mali and Mauritania.

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Central Africa Nations to Form Anti-LRA Fighting Force
Source: Voice of America (voanews.com) by Adrian Edwards in Dakar
Date: Thursday, 21 October 2010:



Photo: The leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, Joseph Kony, left, and his deputy Vincent Otti sit inside a tent Sunday 12, 2006 at Ri-Kwamba in Southern Sudan. (AP)

The African Union is helping four nations in central Africa build an international army to corner cross-border guerrillas in the Lord's Resistance Army.

Since 1987, a Ugandan band of Christian guerrillas has slipped past borders, killed thousands throughout central African villages, and waged what is today one of the continent's longest-running conflicts -- and that conflict isn't going to end, the African Union says, until the region's militaries can assemble a single, multinational army to fight it.

That's exactly what Central African heads of state signed up to do this week at a conference in Tripoli, where delegates drafted plans for an international anti-guerilla fighting force.

This new army, with soldiers from Uganda, Sudan, Central Africa Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo will pursue the Lords Resistance Army across borders. AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Ramtane Lamara says it's an encouraging plan that the AU will back.

Lamara says the plan of action heads of state adopted in Tripoli calls on Central African countries to redouble their efforts. It also seeks to establish a coordinated military plan towards the objective of finally neutralizing the LRA, he says. This plan will put an end to their atrocities and destablizing activities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Southern Sudan, and the Central African Republic.

The blueprint calls for military assistance from two of the continent's most experienced armies, Nigeria's and South Africa's. It also calls for cross-border intelligence sharing, and for AU support in tracking the maneuvers of Lords Resistance soldiers.

The guerilla faction operating out of Uganda's rural West has been attempting to overthrow Central African governments, Uganda's in particular, and transform the region into a Christian theocracy, with laws based on the biblical ten commandments.

But in the past two years alone, the sect has been accused of killing 2,000 people, and abducting another 2,600, in attacks that the U.N. Human Rights Council says were often orchestrated with child soldiers.

This year has been no less violent, U.N. spokesperson Adrian Edwards says.

"So far this year, the Ugandan rebel group has carried out more than 240 deadly attacks," Edwards said. "At least 344 people have been killed. In most cases these attacks are on vulnerable, isolated communities, with indiscriminate killings, abductions, rape, mutilation, looting and destruction of property."

The International Criminal Court maintains a crimes against humanity arrest warrant against on the LRA's leader, Joseph Kony.

On Thursday, Central Africa Republic defense minister Jean-Francis Bozize asked the international community to classify the guerrillas as a terrorist organization, like al-Qaida, he said.

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LRA And Ambororo Nomadas A Threat In WBGS
Source: SRS - Sudan Radio Service
Date: Friday, 22 October 2010:

(Wau) – Insecurity is increasing in Western Bahr al Ghazal state due to the presence of Lord’s Resistance Army and Ambororo nomads.

The commissioner of Wau County, Luka Anthony Ubur expressed his concerns to SRS on Thursday over the security situation in the area.

[Luka Anthony Ubur]: “Western Bahr El Ghazal state has been a very safe place ever since. But now there are cases of rising insecurity. Along the part which is neighboring Western Equitoria State, there is a lot of disturbance from activities of the L-R-A. They entered in the border between us and Raja in Kor Hajer and are now causing trouble. The presence of Ambororo is also a threat to our people.”

That was the commissioner of Wau County, Luka Anthony Ubur speaking to Sudan Radio service in Wau on Thursday.

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Further Reading



Photo: One of the world's most wanted rebel chiefs, Joseph Kony of the Lord's Resistance Army, (L) is seen shaking hand with southern Sudan's vice president Riek Machar (R) in this image taken from Reuters TV in Nairobi, May 24, 2006. (Reuters TV/CSM)

CAN A JOINT MILITARY FORCE DEFEAT THE LRA?
See comments (24, so far) posted at http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/africahaveyoursay
Source: BBC World Service online - Africa HYS team
Date: Monday, 18 October 2010
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THOUGHT OF THE DAY

From Forbes.com

"All true love is founded on esteem."
-George Buckingham