sudan , sudan the forgotten cross roads of terrorism

7/30/2019 Sudan , Sudan the Forgotten Cross Roads of Terrorism

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The Forgotten Terrorist Ground

Dr. Hassan al Turabi, a graduate of Khartoum University School of Law and of theSorbonne, became a leader of the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood in the early 1960s.When Gen. Jafa'ar Nimeiri took power in a coup in 1969, Tura bi's Islamist party wasdissolved and its members arrested, only to return to political life in 1977 inreconciliation with Nimeiri, who became general Turabis attorney. Nimeiri madeshari'a the law of the land in Sudan in September 1983 . However, shariaamputations and hangings contributed to a popular nonviolent overthrow of Nimeiriin 1985, and the reinstatement of parliamentary rule. In the 1986 elections, Turabi

led a new faction of the Muslim Brotherhood, the National Islamic Front (NIF), tothird place in the national assembly.

The NIF sought to create an Islamic state in Sudan. In 1989, from behind thescenes, this party participated in a military coup overthrowing the electedgovernment. From that time until 2001, Turabi was the power behind the throne,whether as leader of the NIF or later as speaker of the assembly. He led the creationof the NIF police state and associated NIF militias to consolidate Islamist power andprevent a popular uprising. The NIF police state and militias committed man y human


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rights abuses, including summary executions, torture, ill treatment, arbitrarydetentions, denial of freedoms of speech, assembly, and religion, and violations ofthe rules of war, particularly in the south, where a civil war was being waged from1983 to the present.

Established A Regional Umbrella For Political Islamist Militants, The Popular

Arab Islamic Conference (PAIC), Headquartered In Khartoum.

In 1990-91, Turabi also established a regional umbrella for political Islamistmilitants, the Popular Arab Islamic conference (PAIC), headquartered in Khartoum. Itwas formed with the immediate aim of opposing American involvement in the GulfWar. Turabi became its secretary general. Under his guidance, the Sudangovernment created an open -door policy for Arabs, including Turabi's Islamistassociate Osama bin Laden, who made his base in Sudan in 1990 -1996. The effortsof the NIF to refashion Sudan into an Islamic state bore mixed results because of theopposition it inspired and the civil war. The Gov ernment of Sudan ceased hostingPAIC in 2000. SOURCE: BIOGRAPHY OF HASSAN AL TURABI, HUMAN RIGHTS NEWSHTTP://WWW.HRW.ORG/PRESS/2002/03/TURABI -BIO.HTM

BUT THE READER SHOULD NOTE :

In 1990-91, Al-Turabi established The Popular Arab Islamic Conference (PAIC), an

international umbrella organization for political Islamist militant movementsheadquartered in Khartoum, and became its secretary general. During the early1990s, Al-Turabi allowed Osama bin Laden to use the Sudan as his base, andbecame the spiritual mentor. The NIF's efforts to refashion Sudan into an Islamic

state yielded mixed results, due to the opposition it generated and the civil war, andin 2000 the Sudanese government ceased hosting PAIC. In March 2004 , Al-Turabiwas imprisoned in Khartoum on the orders of his one-time ally, current presidentOmar al-Bashir, and was released in June 2005. 1

The United States and Sudan in mid -2000 entered into a dialogue to discuss UScounterterrorism concerns. The talks, which were ongoing at the end of the year, wereconstructive and obtained some positive results. By the end of the year , Sudan had signed all12 international conventions for combating terrorism and had taken several other positivecounterterrorism steps, including closing down the Popul ar Arab and Islamic Conference,which served as a forum for terrorists.

Sudan, however, continued to be used as a safehaven by members of various groups,including associates of Osama Bin Ladin's Al Qaeda organization, Egyptian al -Gama'a al-Islamiyya, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the Palestine Islamic Jihad, and HAMAS. Most groups usedSudan primarily as a secure base for assisting compatriots elsewhere.

Khartoum had still not complied fully with UN Security Council Resolutions 1044, 1054, and1070, passed in 1996--which demanded that Sudan end all support to terrorists. They also

required Khartoum to hand over three Egyptian Gama'a fugitives linked to the assassinationattempt in 1995 against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Ethiopia. Sudanese officialscontinued to deny that they had a role in the attack 2.

[1] THE MIDDLE EAST MEDIA RESEARCH INSTITUTE, SPECIAL DISPATCH SERIES 1143, APR 21st, 2006

MEMRI.ORG/BIN/ARTICLES.CGI?PAGE=SUBJECTS&AREA=REFORM&ID=SP114306

[2] : STATE-SPONSORED TERRORISM SUDANTERRORISMFILES.ORG/COUNTRIES/SUDAN.HTML.
http://http//WWW.HRW.ORG/PRESS/2002/03/TURABI-BIO.HTMhttp://http//WWW.HRW.ORG/PRESS/2002/03/TURABI-BIO.HTM


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Sudan declared itself an Islamic state in 1990 when General Bashir visited Iran andsaid the two countries shared a common duty to propagate Islam. The Sudanesesided with Iraq in the Persian Gulf War I, Desert Storm. Clearly Sudan had becomea place where indifference between Muslim Countries such as Iran and Iraq were setaside; they were openly welcomed and even courted. Hence, Sudan became a landbridge, for different State sponsors of terrorism.

The Sudan is in a strategic position to export its Islamic revolution because of itsborders with both Egypt and Libya and with six African countries, including Ethiopia,which has a large and impoverished Muslim population. Egypt regards the Sudan asvital because the countries share then Nile River, and the High Dam of Aswan is only150 miles north of the Sudanese border.

After Dr. Hassan al Turabi, seized power he did two things: first, he imposed afundamentalist regime almost identical to the one that the Ayatollah had created inIran, except that it was based on Sunni Ideals. Secondly, he welcomed and invitedworld wide terrorists to Sudan . He exempted them from paying taxes, local lawenforcement authority, and other economic befits. Steven Emerson, American Jihad,page 139.

1992 Sudan

After a visit in 1991 to Khartoum by the then Iranian President, HashemiRafsanjani, Iran agrees to grant mili tary and economic assistance to Sudan,extending to it the potential to not only consolidate its power at home but als o tomaterially and morally promote Islamic groups. The Sudanese have accelerated thetraining of a paramilitary force of conscripted Government workers and universitystudents, known as the Popular Defense Force. Officials acknowledge that it ismodeled after and is receiving help from Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

December 1991, Iran: The then Iranian President, Rafsanjani , along with Irans(former) Other Governmental members -

Intelligence Minister Al Fallahian, Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander In Chief Moshsen Rezaii, Defense Minister Al Torkan,

Rafsanjani, in addition to these top Iranian Officials , and another 150 Iraniandelegates, told his hosts, in a speech given in Khartoum: Sudan can play a moreimportant role in the new world order . During the trip, Iran provided 17 milliondollars and purchased 300 million dollars worth of military equipment for Sudan fromChina.

Majid Kamal

Iranian Ambassador sent to Khartoum, in 1992, Majid Kamal was involved in the1979 takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran and guided Iranian efforts in developingthe Lebanese Hezbollah group while he served as Iran's top diplomat in Lebanon

during the early 1980s. His presence illustrated the importance Iran places onSudan.ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM, THE NEW GLOBAL THREAT, MOHAMMAD MOHADDESSIN SEVEN LOCKS PRESS,2001, PAGES 90 -92.

As Sudan hardens its Islamic rule at home, it is providing easy access, andapparently in some instances training installations, to internati onal terrorist groups,such as some of radical Palestinian organization of Abu Nidal, the Iranian-backed Party of God and Islamic Holy War. The Abu Nidal group has evidently beenscaling back its operations in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, as Libya seeks to soften its


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image as a sponsor of terrorism. Th e other two groups, long linked with thekidnapping of Westerners in Lebanon, have seen their activities curtailed as theSyrian-allied Lebanese Government moves to extend cont rol.

SOURCE: SUDAN IS SEEN AS SAFE BASE FOR MIDEAST TERROR GROUPS PUBLISHED: J ANUARY 26th, 1992RESEARCH SERVICES

sudan , sudan the forgotten cross roads of terrorism

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