Sudanese security officer slammed for remarks on Islamic Shari’ah law
* Article
* Comments (2)
email Email
print Print
pdfSave
separation
increase
decrease
separation
separation
*
*
*
*
March 15, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – A senior Sudanese security officer has
been facing a barrage of criticism after he suggested in a radio
interview last week that the government may repeal Islamic Shari’ah
laws if other political parties agreed to it, in a case highlighting
the sensitivity surrounding the issue of Islamic laws in the
predominantly Muslim society of northern Sudan.
JPEG - 8.3 kb
Secretary-general of Sudan’s Presidential Security Consultancy
(website of Sudanese daily newspaper Akhir Lahzah)
Lieutenant General Hassab Allah Omar, a veteran security and
intelligence officer who currently serves as the secretary-general of
Sudan’s Presidential Security Consultancy, opened a Pandora box of
furious reactions when he said in an interview broadcast on Friday by
Sudan national radio that “If political parties agreed to repeal
[Islamic] Shari’ah [law] then Shri3ah should go.”
A host of Islamist writers and pro-government stalwarts unsheathed
their pens in the local press to vilify Hassab Allah for his
statements. The campaign further escalated when the presidential
adviser and head of Sudan’s Islamic Jurisprudence Council, Ahmad Ali
al-Imam, joined Hassab Allah’s detractors.
Al-Imam said that the officer’s statements were antithetical to the
government’s avowed commitment to Shari’ah laws as declared by the
President Al-Bashir.
“These statements reflect negatively on the credibility of the Inqaz
[the original alias of President Al-Bashir’s government]…whoever
delivers such statement should be held accountable on individual
basis,” Al-Imam said.
Sudan’s president Omar Al-Bashir declared in December of last year
that the country would amend its constitution to transform itself into
an Islamic state following the secession of the
predominantly-Christian south which voted to split from the north in a
referendum later in January.
The Association of Muslim Scholars, which is the state’s official
clerical authority, also issued a statement strongly criticizing the
statements of Hassab Allah and calling him “Hassab of the devil.”
Hassab Allah, who appeared this week in a press conference saying his
statements were “wrenched out of context”, has been serving in the
security and intelligence dockets since the current Islamist
government of President Al-Bashir seized power in a military coup in
1989.
He was closely involved in coordinating the extradition of the
Venezuelan militant known as Carlos the Jackal in 1994 from Sudan to
France where he also served for two years as a diplomat in the late
1990s. He was also involved in secret cooperation with American
Intelligence CIA in the past.
On the other hand, the Presidential Security Consultancy which is
directed by Sudan’s former intelligence Chief Salah Gosh issued a
statement reacting to the criticism against its secretary-general. It
said that the statements of its secretary-general were not accurately
reported and that the real meaning was the impossibility of repealing
Islamic laws.
(ST)
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD
info" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
[email protected].
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
