SUDANESE LEADERS COMPLAIN ABOUT FOREIGN INFLUENCE

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 000559 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/SPG, S/CRS ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KPKO SOCI AU UNSC SU SUBJECT: SUDANESE LEADERS COMPLAIN ABOUT FOREIGN INFLUENCE REF: (A) KHARTOUM 506 (B) KHARTOUM 462 ¶1. (SBU) Speaking at a March 31 to April 1 workshop "Foreign Presence and its impact on National Sudanese Security" organized by the National Assembly Committee on security and Defense, National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) Chief Salah Abdullah Muhammad, aka Salah Ghosh, called on the national assembly to enact legislation to temper the foreign presence in Sudan. During his address, Ghosh accused Western Embassies and NGOs of "transgressing the lines and recruiting informants to provide their embassies with intelligence harmful to national security" and revealed unspecified violations committed by ambassadors and instances in which western embassies directly intervened in Sudan's internal affairs, among other transgressions. He also charged that some journalists are working for foreign embassies and that embassies are trying to influence Sudanese government agencies. ¶2. (SBU) Ghosh further asserted that some NGOs entered Darfur with a mandate for humanitarian relief but ultimately worked for foreign embassies and provided them with what he claimed was false information regarding the region. Other Sudanese speakers at the conference included Refugees Commission Dr. Mohammed Ahmed Alagash who warned against American and Israeli intelligence agencies working under the guise of humanitarian agencies. He also highlighted Sudan's history of accepting refugees and urged for controls regulating voluntary return. Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Labor al-Tayeb Mukhtar stated that there is a plot to keep qualified Sudanese labor from working on public works projects and claimed that 75 percent of the public works projects in Sudan go to foreign companies. Ghosh also echoed this sentiment, claiming that the foreign presence had created a redundancy of Sudanese workers in the labor market. (Note: The labor issue of course has nothing to do with the U.S. or the West and has more to do with Chinese projects. End note.) ¶3. (SBU) Ghosh deplored the absence of national legislation not only as a means of regulating western diplomats and NGOs, but also in terms of empowering the government to deal with illegal migrants, particularly those from neighboring countries. He raised the dangers posed by the presence of illegal foreigners to the security of Sudan, including extremist elements. ¶4. (SBU) Separately, Second Vice President Ali Osman Taha, speaking in the eastern Sudan city of Gadarif on April 4, said that foreign intelligence agencies and organizations are planning to take advantage of the planned 2009 elections. He claimed that western powers want "democracy without political stability" aimed at creating conflict that leads to the destabilization of a country. He proposed dialogue and national reconciliation to counter Western attempts at dividing the country. ¶5. (SBU) DUP parliamentarian Dr. Mudawi al-Turabi told CDA Fernandez on April 10 that Ghosh's comments were aimed at securing easy passage of his NISS budget from the National Assembly (something we find hard to believe) and also the latest in the Sudanese spymaster's efforts to demonstrate his utility to his political patrons in the National Congress Party (this is a more likely explanation). ¶6. (SBU) Comment: Post agrees with observers who say that Ghosh's statement were in response to recent reports of closer U.S.-GOS relations (in the wake of FM Deng Alor's February trip to the U.S.) and a warning shot to the West to watch its steps in Sudan and not overreach. Ghosh undoubtedly wanted to reassure anti-western and anti-U.S. elements in Sudan that he is vigilant in his relations with the U.S. and foreigners. Vice-President Taha's statements can also be viewed in the context of burnishing anti-West rhetoric while trying to preserve its radical Islamist credentials among its core supporters. FERNANDEZ