Rifts within Sudan’s ruling party topple presidential security adviser
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April 26, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Internal squabbles within North Sudan’s
ruling National Congress Party (NCP) have culminated in the sacking of
presidential security adviser Salah Gosh, as the country’s official
news agency SUNA abruptly reported at a late hour on Tuesday, citing a
decree by President Al-Bashir.
JPEG - 12.4 kb
President Omar al-Bashir, Defense Minister Gen. Abdul-Rahim Mohammed
Hussein, and Deputy Chairman of the National Congress Party Nafi Ali
Nafi
The removal of the intelligence figure comes few days after he fell
out with the country’s powerful presidential assistant and NCP’s
Vice-President, Nafi Ali Nafi, amid reports that Al-Bashir himself had
intervened to contain the crisis.
Nafi and Gosh exchanged public criticism this week over the dialogue
conducted by the latter with certain opposition parties under the
umbrella of the Presidential Security Advisory, which Gosh chairs.
The NCP’s Vice-President said in a radio interview on Friday that the
dialogue led by Gosh was not sanctioned by the NCP’s leadership,
stressing that his party refuses to negotiate over demands by the
opposition for the formation of a national government.
In response, Gosh held a press conference on Saturday and claimed that
the dialogue enjoys approval by President Al-Bashir and Vice-President
Ali Osman Mohamed Taha. He further said that no one had the right to
interfere in his job and that the dialogue would not stop unless
president Al-Bashir issues direct orders to that effect.
Gosh went on to criticize Nafi, saying that his statement is
“detrimental to the dialogue and will make opposition parties run away
from it.”
Following the public display of discord, Sudan president Al-Bashir
reportedly convened a meeting between the two men on Sunday, but no
information has been leaked about the outcome of the meeting.
Gosh succeeded Nafi in the leadership of Sudan’s National Intelligence
and Security Services (NISS) in 2002 until he was removed from his
position in August 2009. He is considered the poster boy of
counterterrorism cooperation between the NISS and the US Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA).
His demotion form NISS chief to a presidential security adviser
followed rumors that he had drew the ire of Sudan’s army generals when
he deployed his own militiamen to repulse the attack of Darfur rebel
group, the Justice and Equality Movement, on the country’s capital in
May 2008.
The sacking of Gosh is expected to stoke speculations of a growing
power struggle between the NCP’s wing of hardliners, represented by
Nafi, and those who favor a moderate approach towards opposition
party.
The NCP is currently engaged with two mainstream opposition parties,
the National Umma Party of Al-Sadiq al-Mahdi and the Democratic
Unionist Party led by Mohamed Osman Al-Mirghani, in an effort to
assuage the tension that has been dominating the domestic political
arena following the secession of the oil-producing region of South
Sudan in a referendum in January and the resultant worsening economic
conditions.
The former presidential adviser headed also the NCP delegation in the
talks with the South Sudan ruling party- SPLM over the disputed Abyei
area.
(ST)
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