NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: It's good to see veteran Africa correspondent Rob Crilly reporting on Sudan again. Sometime before during and after the Darfur war, Rob wrote a book cleverly titled 'Saving Darfur: Everyone's Favourite African War'. The book became well known, sold well and is still available from leading book sellers including on Kindle at Amazon.
Here below is a summary of Rob's latest report on Sudan for the Daily Mail, followed by a copy in full. Thanks Rob, good to see you back safe and sound!
Sudan's Islamists use online networks and AI to make their move
Waiting in the wings to return are notorious figures such as Salah Gosh, former head of NISS
Social media research shows Sudan's Islamists making a push for power
It includes using AI to fake an address by the U.S. ambassador, researchers say
They are seeking a return to relevance amid fighting between rival generals
On Sunday, US special forces carried out a precarious evacuation of the US Embassy in Sudan
Images of foreigners fleeing are being used by Islamists to say they are winning the war against the West, just like the Taliban did in Afghanistan when Americans fled in 2021
The fighting pitches army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, who has allied himself with the country's Islamists, against Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo (better known as Hemedti) who heads the Rapid Support Forces
While Hemedti, who rose to prominence amid the war crimes of Darfur, claims to promote democracy, Burhan has linked up with Islamists as part of his strategy to emerge as victor
‘He basically made a deal with the devil,' said Cameron Hudson, senior associate in the Africa program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies'
'And that deal was: I will allow you to reemerge and to regain a foothold in this country, and you have to support me politically and use your networks and your, your deep state influence to support me against the RFS
Waiting in the wings to return in the event of an army victory, he said, were notorious figures such as Salah Gosh, the former leader of the feared National Intelligence and Security Service.
Read the full report from DailyMail.com
By ROB CRILLY, SENIOR U.S. POLITICAL REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
Published: 21:09, 27 April 2023 | Updated: 21:49, 27 April 2023 - excerpts:
EXCLUSIVE Sudan's Islamists use online networks and AI to make their move: Social media accounts spread claims hardliners will seize power as democracy leaders flee during Western evacuation just like the Taliban did in Afghanistan
Sudan's Islamists are out of favor and out of power after once being the force behind the country's military rulers.
But they are now using sophisticated social media networks and AI to try to worm their way back to a position of influence amid the country's turmoil.
Sudan's top two military leaders have spent most of the past two weeks fighting for control of Africa's third largest nation, prompting the U.S. and other foreign nations to evacuate diplomats and nationals.
Islamist groups are using those images to claim that the West is in retreat and they are poised for victory, just like the Taliban in Afghanistan, according to research by a social media monitoring group.
Their online networks have even used AI technology to spread fake audio recordings suggesting the U.S. was trying to reduce the influence of Islam on the country.
Islamists are using a sophisticated social media operation to gain influence in Sudan. That includes using AI to fake a plot by US Ambassador John Godfrey to intervene in the country
Amil Khan, founder of Valent Projects which researches the impact of social media, said Islamists had a powerful network of accounts spreading images of Western-led evacuations, and of civilian leaders taking flights out of Khartoum.
'They're opportunistically then using that to say this is Western collapse, and linking it to Kabul allows them to try to paint themselves as victors in the same way that they see the Taliban,' he said.
'It reflects messaging around the word that the Taliban have won the US. The US left in disarray.
'The Islamists are trying to say that we are the people that conquered them.'
In their heyday, Sudan's Islamists turned the nation into a haven for terrorists. Osama bin Laden made his home in the capital Khartoum from 1991 to 1996.
Khan said that although they had lost influence following the toppling of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019, they had built a powerful online presence.
'What they did have was this really extensive manipulation-digital infrastructure with hundreds and hundreds of mass accounts that could just get a coordinated message out and dominate the digital space,' he said.
At the same time, they were claiming that fleeing Sudanese leaders were leaving with their foreign paymasters — all part of an effort to undermine the popularity of civilian rule.
But he added there was little evidence that Sudan's weary population was being swayed by such blatant propaganda.
Even so, Republican Rep. Mike Waltz, a former Green Beret who sits on the House intelligence committee, said the development was deeply worrying.
'It’s absolutely a concern and we're going to lose even more visibility and intelligence gathering now that the State Department has had to pull its embassy staff,' he said.
Social media messages have celebrated the exit of former foreign minister Omar Qamar al-Din, for example.
'This is how the clients are falling one after the other,' said a post reviewed by DailyMail.com, comparing his early morning exit with the flight of officials from the Western-backed government in Kabul in 2021 as Taliban forces closed in on the Afghan capital.
Valent also concluded that Islamist accounts were behind a faked audio message supposedly from US Ambassador John Godfrey, apparently outlining strategies to impose secularism on Sudan.
'The first is international intervention with military force and imposing a new reality on this people by force of arms. This is now excluded in light of the weak world order,' the faked voice says.
'As for the other option, support us in the process of subjugating the rapid support militias and exploiting the two brothers greed for power and using them as a deterrent force and guardian of the secular democratic state, no matter how brutal it may be.'
Western governments used a ceasefire this week to bring home their diplomats and rescue as many nationals as possible.
It came after the troubled African nation was plunged into violence, two years after a coup sidelined its civilian prime minister.
Talks to lead the country back to civilian rule appeared to reach an agreement in December, but hopes of a peaceful transition were dashed by fighting that erupted two weeks ago between the head of the army and the head of the Rapid Support Force (RSF).
RSF chief Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (better known as Hemedti) had been deputy to General Abdel Fattah Burhan, until the two fell out over plans to integrate his militia into the army.
Witnesses have described seeing bodies on the streets of the capital and more than 500 people have been killed around the country.
While Hemedti, who rose to prominence amid the war crimes of Darfur, claims to promote democracy, Burhan has linked up with Islamists as part of his strategy to emerge as victor.
'He basically made a deal with the devil,' said Cameron Hudson, senior associate in the Africa program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies'.
'And that deal was: I will allow you to reemerge and to regain a foothold in this country, and you have to support me politically and use your networks and your, your deep state influence to support me against the RFS
Waiting in the wings to return in the event of an army victory, he said, were notorious figures such as Salah Gosh, the former leader of the feared National Intelligence and Security Service.
'We know what their rule of the country looked like,' he said. 'And these are bad dudes.
'These are these are all the guys that were responsible for all of the worst abuses of the Bashir regime.'
See gallery of 11 photos (including 5 above) with credits and these captions:
- Shells are seen on the ground near damaged buildings at the central market during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North
- Islamists helped propel an army colonel to power in 1989. They were the power behind the throne under Omar al-Bashir's reign, until he was dumped out of power in 2019
- Sudanese army soldiers, loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, pose for a picture at the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) base in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan
- VIDEO Sudan doctor fears hospital will run out of medical supplies
- Islamists are using a sophisticated social media operation to gain influence in Sudan. That includes using AI to fake a plot by US Ambassador John Godfrey to intervene in the country
- Sudan's capital Khartoum has been rocked by two weeks of fighting between rival generals. Smoke can be seen her rising from the city's international airport last week
- On Sunday, U.S. special forces carried out a precarious evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Sudan. Images of foreigners fleeing are being used by Islamists to say they are winning the war against the West, just like the Taliban did in Afghanistan when Americans fled in 2021
- Pictured: British Nationals about to board an RAF aircraft in Sudan, for evacuation to Larnaca International Airport in Cyprus
- Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan
- Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo
View the original report plus video and photo gallery here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12021059/Sudans-Islamists-use-online-networks-say-seize-power-like-Taliban-did-Kabul.html
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From Amazon.co.uk
Saving Darfur - Everyone's Favourite African War
Africa is a continent riddled with conflict. Most are forgotten wars that rumble away unnoticed for decades. Darfur is different. For six years an unlikely coalition of the religious right, the liberal left and a smattering of celebrities has kept Darfur's bloody conflict in the headlines. Rob Crilly arrived in Sudan in 2005 to find out what made Darfur special.
Far from being a simple clash of good and evil, he discovers the complicated truth about Arabs and Africans, and the world's failed attempts to halt the killing. Along the way he rides with rebels on donkeys, gets caught in a Janjaweed attack and learns lessons from Osama bin Laden's horse. What he found will turn your understanding of the war upside down.
Product description
Review
'A haunting and brutally honest account of international failure and African suffering. Lucid, engaging and written with love for the entire continent of Africa.' --Fergal Keane, BBC News
Rob Crilly tells the story of Darfur up close, focusing on the people who have fought and suffered. Neither cynical nor moralizing, he brings to life its protagonists-rebel fighters, Arab militiamen, displaced villagers, foreign aid workers, diplomats and campaigners. Saving Darfur delves beneath the stereotypes to tackle the complexities of Darfur and Sudan, illuminating both the ordinariness and the bizarreness of this extraordinary African war.' --Alex De Waal, author of 'Darfur: A New History of a Long War'
'While I disagree with much of Mr Crilly's analysis, he provides us with a solid journalistic account of his first-hand experiences in Darfur.' --Mia Farrow, actress and activist
From the Inside Flap
`A haunting and brutally honest account of international failure and African suffering' - Fergal Keane, BBC News
From the Back Cover
'A haunting and brutally honest account of international failure and African suffering' - Fergal Keane, BBC News
'Rob Crilly tells the story of Darfur up close, focusing on the people who have fought and suffered' - Alex de Waal, author of Darfur: A New History of a Long War
'This books peels off the labels that have been stuck on Darfur by outsiders and exposes the stubborn realities beneath the surface' - Richard Dowden, Director of the Royal African Society
About the Author
Rob Crilly is a freelance foreign correspondent. For five years he lived and worked in East Africa, travelling through war zones in Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and northern Uganda, reporting for The Times, The Irish Times, The Christian Science Monitor, The Daily Mail and The Scotsman. Born in 1973, he was educated at the Judd School, Tonbridge, and Cambridge University. Before moving to Africa he spent five years working for British newspapers, most recently as Edinburgh Bureau Chief of The Herald.
View original https://www.amazon.co.uk/Saving-Darfur-Everyones-Favourite-African/dp/1906702195
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