Haftar, Hemeti, and a Canadian lobbyist's Libyan connection - Russia moves in on Sudan, Eritrea, Egypt

Middle East Eye.net looked through public documents showing how a former Israeli intelligence officer lobbying for Sudan's military council became a major player in war-torn Libya.  Sudanese fighters have reportedly arrived in Libya, an idea first floated by lobbyists in May.  Full story here below.

Sudanese fighters have reportedly arrived in Libya, an idea first floated by lobbyists in May (AFP)

Article by Middle East Eye.net

Written by Kaamil Ahmed

Published date: 02 August 2019 11:58 UTC

Haftar, Hemeti, and a Canadian lobbyist's Libyan connection

Last week, around 1,000 members of Sudan’s notorious Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were reported to have arrived in eastern Libya, joining the ranks of Khalifa Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) which is waging war against the country's UN-recognised government in Tripoli.

Their arrival, which was reported by Radio Dabanga, a Dutch-based broadcaster run by Sudanese exiles, coincided with Haftar's declaration of an imminent "victory" as his forces amass on the outskirts of the Libyan capital.

According to Radio Dabanga, the RSF members will be deployed to protect oil facilities in Haftar-controlled eastern Libya in order to allow him to concentrate his fighters for an assault on Tripoli. It said the number of RSF fighters in Libya could rise to 4,000 in the next few months.

Al Jazeera also reported that documents from Haftar’s backers in the United Arab Emirates showed orders to transport Sudanese fighters to Libya through Eritrea.

The RSF is a paramilitary force led by Mohammed Hamdan Dagolo, the deputy head of Sudan's ruling military council commonly known as Hemeti, and has played a leading role, according to opposition activists, in a deadly crackdown on protesters in Sudan since the beginning of June.

The movement of fighters has confirmed the fears of those Sudanese protesters about becoming entangled in more regional conflicts since the prospect of RSF fighters - who have already been deployed to Yemen as part of of the Saudi-led coalition - going to Libya was first floated in a lobbying deal made public in June. 

According to documents signed by Hemeti on behalf of the military council in May, and recently published in public listings in the US, the transfer of troops to support the LNA in Libya was proposed as part of a $6m deal between Sudan's military rulers and Dickens and Madson, a Canadian lobbying firm which also has links to Haftar and a record of past dealings in Libya.

The other signatory to the deal was Ari Ben-Menashe, the founder of Dickens and Madson and a Tehran-born former Israeli intelligence officer whose eventful career has included being arrested and put on trial in the US in 1989 for allegedly trying to sell weapons to Iran.

He was acquitted after a New York jury accepted that he had been acting on orders from Israel, according to a profile of Ben-Menashe in Canada's National Post.

Among other lobbying activities, the deal said that Dickens and Madson would "strive to obtain funding for your [Sudan's] Council from the Eastern Libyan Military Command in exchange for your military help to the LNA".

When contacted by Middle East Eye this week, Ben-Menashe said that the "exchange" proposed in the agreement had yet to take place and described it as a possibility only once a civilian prime minister was installed in Sudan.

Libyan 'Wild West'

View lobbying deal doc here: https://www.docdroid.net/ppjGNsQ/sudan-military-council-lobbying-deal.pdf

But the agreement, disclosed under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) which requires organisations representing the interests of foreign powers to declare these ties publicly, fits a pattern of dealings involving Libya and Ben-Menashe's lobbying firm.

Other documents available through the online FARA registry show that since the end of Muammar Gaddafi’s three-decade rule in 2011, Ben-Menashe’s organisation has provided public relations and lobbying services to several Libyan groups, including Haftar's LNA.

The latest agreement with Sudan is Dickens and Madson's fourth deal linked to Libya, where the organisation has had a particular focus on the eastern part of the country.

Dickens and Madson has offered clients services that range from polishing their image and forging diplomatic links to facilitating oil sales and bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars in military assistance - in a turbulent Libyan context some observers have called a "Wild West" for lobbying firms.

Since Gaddafi was killed in October 2011, eight months into an uprising against his autocratic rule, Libya has been torn apart by competing claims to leadership between numerous factions.

The two most prominent bodies claiming power have been the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), based in Tripoli, and Haftar’s LNA forces and accompanying House of Representatives government.

Haftar became a client of Dickens and Madson in 2015, according to a FARA filing which lists him and others including the House of Representatives as the "foreign principal" for a $6m deal in which the Canadian firm promised to lobby for recognition and favour in the US and Russia, but also vowed to “strive... to obtain” $500m in military assistance from Moscow. 

The goal, the document said, was to get international governments to recognise and help the House of Representative in its purported goal to “restore peace and order to the Republic of Libya”.

Ben-Menashe told MEE that he had not officially represented the House of Representatives since their deal expired earlier this year. He said he did not try to renew it after Haftar's assault on Tripoli began, which he claimed he had tried to prevent.

But he said he remained in contact with Haftar, and had tried to broker a meeting for him with Fayez al-Sarraj, the prime minister of the GNA in Tripoli who he said he had met in Tunisia and Malta.

"In spite of the fact that we didn’t have this contract [with Haftar anymore] we were requested to help as we know all the sides of the conflict," Ben-Menashe said. "The issue of uniting the two sides had been part of our work for three or four years."

'There has to be a unifying force'

Haftar, who has been backed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russia, has controlled the dominant military force in eastern Libya since launching a campaign against Islamist militant groups around Benghazi in 2014.

But his forces have been accused of human rights abuses and war crimes. Last month, Haftar promoted a commander who is the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant over the alleged execution-style killing of prisoners in 2016 and 2017.

In May, Amnesty International accused the LNA of possible war crimes for bombarding civilian neighbourhoods in Tripoli.

Speaking to the BBC in July, Ben-Menashe credited Haftar and the House of Representatives with bringing stability to eastern Libya.

“We’ve represented the House of Representatives and I think there’s stability in eastern Libya - much more stable than it was before and we helped bring that about,” he said.

“What Mr Haftar did in Tripoli, that’s a different story. There has to be a unifying force and Mr Haftar got backing from different governments as well.”

Photo: Ari Ben Menashe in Zimbabwe, where he previously represented former President Robert Mugabe (AFP)

While Haftar has been Dickens and Madson's most prominent Libyan patron, Ben-Menashe has also continued to represent another Libyan client - the Unified Libya Movement (ULM) - about which there is limited public information.

The ULM is registered under a Tripoli address and stated in FARA filings that it was “supervised by Libya’s GNC [General National Congress] government”. Created in 2012, the GNC was Libya's transitional legislative authority for two years, before officially dissolving in 2016.

In a 2014 deal previously reported on by MEE, Ben-Menashe’s firm promised to deliver aid, financing and political support to the ULM to help “establish a stable social and political environment for building an inclusive, independent national government for a prosperous sovereign and unitary Libya”.

Speaking to MEE at the time, Ben-Menashe said that his clients were not all necessarily aligned with the GNC.

“Our clients are a group of people [Libyans] who want to bring everybody [from the GNC and House of Representatives] together and start a new legislative body,” he said. “Some [of the clients] are people who were in the GNC and some are still in the GNC.”

In the FARA filing after the deal with the ULM was struck, Dickens and Madson said it could not name the individuals they were representing because it "may place them at physical risk".

Working for the US government

In a 2017 report filed with FARA on the firm’s activity for foreign interests - which at the time consisted of only two Libyan clients, Haftar and the ULM - Dickens and Madson said it had meetings outside the US with individuals “who might in turn have some influence with respect to the position of the United States regarding the establishment of governing structures in Libya”.

The firm also said in the report that it had been working on behalf of the US government.

"Those activities taking place in the United States were undertaken on behalf of the government of the United States in pursuit of policies of the United States, not on behalf of the foreign principals to influence such policies," the report read.

Neither Haftar nor the ULM were Ben-Menashe’s first clients in Libya. 

In 2013, he agreed a $2m deal with the eastern Libya-based Cyrenaica Transitional Council (CTC) and an allied militia leader, Ibrahim Jathran, shortly after they had taken control of eastern Libya’s oil export ports, which they held until they were driven out by Haftar three years later.

The CTC had announced the creation of its own federal government that same year, and Ben-Menashe’s firm promised to seek recognition for its authority.

The deal said Dickens and Madson would work towards obtaining $75m in military aid from Russia and help find sellers and transport for the plentiful oil supplies in eastern Libya, despite opposition from the GNC in Tripoli. 

But that deal quickly fell apart, and in October 2014 Dickens and Madson reported to FARA that no work had been done for the client and no money received.

A month later, Ben-Menashe's firm began its work with the ULM. The following year, Dickens and Madson also started working with Haftar, who by then was at war with Jathran, his first client.

'We really thought we could help'

Ben-Menashe told MEE that he had made at least 20 trips to Libya over the course of his work there for Dickens and Madson and reiterated that the company had helped to stabilise the east of the country.

Under former US President Barack Obama, Ben-Menashe said he had advocated for the eastern government to run Libya instead of the UN-backed Sarraj, who he had viewed as a bad choice.

"We really thought we could help," he said. "We were successful in the east, we helped stabilise the east, we helped do everything."

While he said he no longer worked with Haftar, who he described as "impatient", Ben-Menashe said he remained active in Libya, and was also working with the Gaddafi clan and the minority Amazigh community to build a consensus for a unified Libya.

Dickens and Madson is just one among several western lobbying firms who have identified business opportunities in the continuing instability in Libya since the 2011 revolution, according to experts.

"It's like the Wild West," Cameron Hudson, a senior fellow with the Washington DC-based Atlantic Council and former CIA analyst, told MEE.

“As we say here: there’s gold on those hills. There’s money to be made in eastern Libya for those who take the risk. 

“Just as someone’s willing to sell weapons, someone’s going to be willing to do the PR. There are a lot of bottom-feeders out there.”

Ahmed Gatnash, a co-founder of the Kawaakibi Foundation, which works to promote liberal values in the Arab and Muslim world, said the trend for Middle Eastern powers to hire lobbyists, even beyond Libya, might not do much to increase their standing with the US or other foreign powers but could indirectly impact the public’s view of diplomacy. 

“They kind of show the populace that their politicians are potentially buyable,” he said.

"Even if the lobbying firms don’t do something, it fuels a kind of despair that the world is for sale, democracies are easily corruptible. Why would anyone back democracy in Libya when it can easily be bought?"

More than a dozen parties and factions in Libya have struck deals with US-based lobbying firms since 2011, according to FARA documents. Most of them have focused on strengthening relations between the client and the US government, or polishing their public image.

Both Haftar and the UN-backed GNA have signed new lobbying deals even since the LNA assault on Tripoli began. Donald Trump spoke to Haftar in a telephone call in April, in which a White House spokesperson said the US president had recognised Haftar's "significant role in fighting terrorism and securing Libya’s oil resources".

In May, Haftar’s LNA signed a deal with Houston-based Linden Government Solutions for “assisting in relations between the US government and Client, international coalition building, and general public relations”.

The GNA sought similar assurances from New York-based Mercury Public Affairs.

Sudan's military sidesteps protesters with lobbying and ralliesRead More »

SOURCE: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/haftar-hemeti-and-lobbyists-libya-connection

Hat tip: @KaamilAhmed https://twitter.com/KaamilAhmed and @Eric Reeves https://twitter.com/sudanreeves/status/1157271162482765824

Further Reading

1,000 of Sudan RSF fighters deployed to warlord Haftar's Libya offensive

REPORTEDLY, four thousand members of Sudan’s notorious RSF militia are thought to be deployed to protect Haftar’s oil resources during the offensive on Libya's capital Tripoli.

Sudan Watch - Thursday, August 01, 2019

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2019/08/1000-of-sudan-rsf-fighters-deployed-to.html

Sudan militia chief Hemeti hires Canadian lobbying group for $6m to influence US, Russia, Saudia Arabia, UN, AU, Libya in favour of TMC

Article from The Financial Times.com

Sudan Watch - Tuesday, July 02, 2019

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2019/07/sudan-militia-chief-hemeti-hires.html

Russia Moves in on Africa: Egypt, Eritrea, Sudan

REPORTEDLY, three months before the coup last April in Sudan, a 'draft military agreement' was signed between Moscow and Sudan. 

Gatestone Institute - Tuesday, August 13, 2019
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14714/russia-sudan

Sudan Hemeti hires lobbying firm to increase his sway in US, Saudi Arabia, Russia, hosts ex US congressman

Article from Foreign Policy

BY JUSTIN LYNCH, ROBBIE GRAMER 

Dated 28 June 2019, 7:17 PM

Seeking to Secure Power, Sudan’s Military Ruler Hires Lobbying Help

Top general brokers a multimillion-dollar deal with a Canadian firm and hosts a former U.S. congressman.

Sudan’s military leaders are increasingly reaching beyond their own borders for help from lobbyists, wealthy Persian Gulf states, and even a former U.S. congressman to shore up their legitimacy and control in the aftermath of a coup.

The de facto military ruler of Sudan, Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemeti, brokered a multimillion-dollar lobbying deal to increase his sway in the United States, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and multilateral institutions and welcomed a former member of the U.S. Congress to Khartoum for meetings amid a growing power struggle in the east African country. 

The posturing comes ahead of a massive pro-democracy rally in Khartoum on Sunday, which some experts and U.S. officials fear could turn violent, after forces under Hemeti killed at least 100 protesters and wounded hundreds more in a bloody crackdown at the beginning of June. 

Sudan’s Transitional Military Council, which has led the country since the ouster of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir in the wake of widespread protests, signed a $6 million deal with a Canadian lobbying firm in May to curry favor in the United States, Russia, and Saudi Arabia.

The lobbying contract, which was signed by Hemeti, according to public disclosures filed last week with the U.S. Justice Department, sheds new light on the general’s shadowy behind-the-scenes push with foreign interlocutors to consolidate control and illustrates how many foreign governments have worked to stake claims in Sudan. The Canadian lobbying firm working with the military council, Dickens & Madson, seeks to secure a meeting between Hemeti and U.S. President Donald Trump and the heads of Middle Eastern governments and will work to ensure that it “attain[s] recognition as the legitimate transitionary leadership of the Republic of Sudan,” according to the contract. 

The contract also outlines other priorities, including the lobbying firm working to “provide military training and security equipment”; obtain “infrastructural and food security support” from the Russian government; and even obtain funds from a Libyan general vying for power in that country in exchange for military help. 

The lobbying firm is led by a former Israeli intelligence operative, Ari Ben-Menashe, and has worked in the past for the Zimbabwean and Libyan governments.

Hemeti took de facto control after Bashir was toppled in April following months of anti-government demonstrations. Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, remains under arrest in Sudan, but the powerful security forces and military junta that propped up his rule for three decades are still in place. Hemeti, the head of the notorious paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), implicated in war crimes in Darfur, has tried to portray himself as the one man who can bring stability to Sudan.

Main opposition groups and pro-democracy protesters have challenged the military council, insisting that it should cede power to a civilian-led democratic government, calls that are backed by the United States. Hemeti has sought support from wealthy Gulf states and other countries to shore up his legitimacy in the ensuing power struggle. 

In addition to backing from a Western lobbying firm, Hemeti also received a public relations boost from a former U.S. congressman, James Moran, who visited Sudan last week and met with the Sudanese leader. Moran, now a senior legislative advisor and lobbyist at the law firm McDermott Will & Emery, spoke at what appeared to be a rally in Khartoum after meeting with Hemeti, praising his time with the general and saying he was “impressed” with everyone he met, including the Sudanese leader. 

Moran’s visit gave Hemeti a potential public relations win, reinforcing the perception—at least in state media—that he is backed by the international community. During the rally, Moran was incorrectly introduced as a U.S. senator. Hemeti and the junta have shut down regular internet access in Sudan, and Moran’s visit was displayed on state television, making his speech the only information that many Sudanese have regarding the international community’s stance toward the general. 

Moran and his office did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Foreign Policy, including questions on the purpose of his visit with Hemeti and who funded his trip. 

Moran, according to Sudanese opposition figures and former U.S. officials familiar with internal deliberations, also met with the opposition Sudanese Professionals Association and the top U.S. diplomat in Sudan, Steven Koutsis, the chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy. The State Department did not answer questions regarding Moran’s apparent meeting with Koutsis, other than to say he is a private citizen and doesn’t represent the U.S. government.

An official trip by current members of Congress, including Democratic Rep. Karen Bass on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was canceled due to the unstable political situation in Sudan. 

Powerful lawmakers in Washington are already raising alarm bells about Hemeti’s rise to power, however. On Friday, Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called on the Trump administration to slap sanctions on Hemeti and the RSF for their role in violence against protesters

As recently as September 2018, Moran was a lobbyist for Qatar, according to public disclosure filings. The Gulf state paid at least $40,000 per month for Moran and his law firm to speak with journalists, engage with Congress members and their staff, and send letters regarding Saudi Arabia’s blockade on Qatar.

Qatar is a rival to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt, which have given substantial support to Hemeti.

Moran’s visit, and Hemeti’s new lobbying contract, comes during a potential flash point in Sudan’s revolution.

Hemeti and the military council face a June 30 deadline set by the African Union to hand over power to civilians. The Sudanese Professionals Association and other civilian groups, called the Forces for Freedom and Change, eventually accepted the proposal from the Ethiopian government to share power with the military, a copy of which was obtained by Foreign Policy.

The agreement calls for the junta to chair a body of seven civilians, seven military officials, and one civilian agreed to by both sides for the first 18 months of the country’s transitional period. In the following 18 months, a civilian would lead the council, followed by national elections. The military has not yet responded to the proposal. 

Two civilian negotiators told Foreign Policy that they did not expect the military to agree to the power-sharing agreement and said even if the junta signed it, it would not follow it. A million-strong march organized by civilian groups is planned for the June 30 deadline, which has experts concerned. 

“There are a number of warning signs that show violence is imminent for the protest on Sunday,” said Cameron Hudson, a former White House official under George W. Bush and nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. “The wheels are coming off. The military council is both losing patience and feeling emboldened by the lack of strong international response. They want to prevent a second wave of protests that could reinvigorate the whole movement.”

Central to the negotiations between the civilians and the junta is the role of Hemeti.

Some in the Sudanese Professionals Association say they will not accept a government that includes Hemeti. They demand an investigation into crimes in Darfur and responsibility for the June 3 massacre of protesters. (The general has denied responsibility for the massacre and said he launched an investigation to find the perpetrators.)

But other civilian groups, and even some inside the Sudanese Professionals Association, say they must be practical and include Hemeti in the transitional government. Still, Hudson warned that the military’s involvement in Sudan’s political future may be a formula for disaster.

“The idea that the Transitional Military Council or the Rapid Support Forces can bring stability is insane.”

Justin Lynch is a journalist covering Eastern Europe, Africa, and cybersecurity. Twitter: @just1nlynch

Robbie Gramer is a diplomacy and national security reporter at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @RobbieGramer

SOURCE: https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/06/28/seeking-to-secure-power-sudans-military-rulers-hire-lobbying-help-hemeti-lobbying-influence-dagolo-hemeti-rsf/

Further Reading

The Man Who Terrorized Darfur Is Leading Sudan’s Supposed Transition

The interim vice president, Mohamed Hamdan “Hemeti” Dagalo, was in charge of the brutal janjaweed militias. Now he is calling the shots in Khartoum.

‘The Possibility of Violence Is Very Real’

Sudan’s transition hangs in the balance, says Zachariah Mampilly, an expert on protest movements and African politics.

Document of The Week: Sudan’s Paramilitaries Are Seizing Abandoned U.N. Outposts in Darfur

The United Nations halts withdrawal of peacekeepers amid fear that Sudan’s notorious Rapid Support Forces are filling the security vacuum.

Rome Statute of the ICC Article 7 Crimes Against Humanity: Ongoing murder of civilians in Sudan by the TMC junta meets definitional threshold

HERE is a copy of a tweet by Sudan expert Prof Eric Reeves @sudanreeves dated 01 August 2019: Our best definition of “crimes against humanity” comes from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (#ICC). Though the most difficult class of atrocity crimes to define, ongoing murder of civilians in Sudan by the #TMC junta clearly meets the definitional threshold.

Our best definition of “crimes against humanity” comes from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (#ICC). Though the most difficult class of atrocity crimes to define, ongoing murder of civilians in Sudan by the #TMC junta clearly meets the definitional threshold: pic.twitter.com/R6Vo6IpVJF

— Eric Reeves (@sudanreeves) 1 August 2019

To visit the above tweet click here: https://twitter.com/sudanreeves/status/1157028222015627264

Sudan militia chief Hemeti hires Canadian lobbying group for $6m to influence US, Russia, Saudia Arabia, UN, AU, Libya in favour of TMC

Article from The Financial Times.com

By TOM WILSON in London 

Published at FT.com on Sunday 20 June 2019

Sudan militia chief hires Canadian lobbying group for $6m

US filings show boom in such contracts between N American outfits and African governments

Photo: Soldiers wait for the arrival of Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo before a meeting in Aprag village, 60 km from Khartoum, Sudan © Reuters

A feared militia commander in Sudan has hired a Canadian lobbying group he hopes will secure a public meeting with US president Donald Trump, support from Libya’s military leader and free wheat from Russia in return for an upfront fee of $6m

The consultancy agreement, signed in May by Montreal-based Dickens & Madson and Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo of Sudan’s ruling military council, was published on June 17 by the US Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. It is the latest in a series of eye-catching lobbying contracts between North American companies and authoritarian African governments.s military leader and free wheat from Russia in return for an upfront fee of $6m.

For decades, lobbying outfits have served the interests of US businesses and foreign governments willing to pay for introductions and influence. Those companies are expanding their services, promising not only access in Washington but also mediation and dealmaking with third-party governments all over the world.

Matthew Page, a former Department of State official, said lobbying contracts between Washington groups and African states were proliferating because there was a belief that the Trump White House was more susceptible to external influence than previous administrations.

“This is a reflection of the changed political realities in Washington where the dynamics within the Trump administration are fundamentally different in terms of influence peddling,” Mr Page, who is now an associate fellow at Chatham House, a UK think-tank, said. “African governments have always had these types of lobbying firms helping them out but in the Trump era these firms can be more effective.”

Foreign governments, individuals and companies spent almost $1bn on US lobbyists in 2017, according to figures compiled by the Washington-based website OpenSecrets.org, a non-profit organisation which tracks money in US politics.

Services rendered have included securing press coverage for Cameroon’s 82-year-old autocrat Paul Biya, defending officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo from targeted sanctions or blocking the investigation of war crimes in South Sudan.

In Sudan, Dickens & Madson said they would attempt to influence US policy in favour of the transitional military council and help secure funding and equipment for the Sudanese army.

Lt Gen Hamdan and his fellow military officers seized power in April, toppling Omar al-Bashir, a long-term US enemy, following months of government protests. After promising to hand power to civilian rulers, the generals have demurred and in June turned their guns on the people, killing more than 100 civilians in a night-time raid on a pro-democracy sit-in.

The lobbying contract was signed on May 7, before the raid. But even then, Dickens & Madson faced an uphill battle to build US confidence in Lt-Gen Hamdan. Better known as Hemeti, the soldier who is second-in-command in the transitional military council and Sudan’s de facto leader, rose to national prominence as the head of a feared paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces.

Members of the RSF have been accused of widespread human rights abuses in Darfur, western Sudan.

The lobbying group’s contract extends further than Washington. It will also push the interests of the Sudanese transitional military council in Russia, Saudi Arabia, the UN, the African Union and “any other mutually agreed upon country or countries,” according to the filings.

In Russia, the company aims to arrange “private meetings . . . with senior Russian and other political figures” and to secure aid shipments of wheat, diesel and animal feed.

In Libya, the goal is to win funding for the transitional council from military leader General Khalifa Haftar - another Dickens & Madson client - in return for Sudanese military support for the Libyan National Army.

Other objectives include meetings with Middle Eastern heads of state, US investment in Sudan’s oil industry and even the negotiation of an economic union between Sudan and neighbouring South Sudan, which seceded in 2011.

When contacted by the Financial Times, a spokesperson for Dickens & Madson said the company’s president who signed the agreement, former Israeli intelligence officer Ari Ben-Menashe, was travelling and could not be immediately reached for comment.

SOURCE: https://www.ft.com/content/816fb488-99a7-11e9-9573-ee5cbb98ed36