---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Tue, May 31, 2011 at 6:45 PM Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] Fw: AC: Osama bin Laden’s quiet friends in Khartoum To: Group <[email protected]>
Usama’s quiet friends in Khartoum 13 May 2011 • Vol 52 - N° 10 • Africa Confidential The May Day killing of Usama bin Laden passed virtually unmentioned by a National Congress Party government that worked hand-in-glove with him when he lived in Sudan in 1991-95. The Speaker of the NCP-dominated National Assembly, Ahmed Ibrahim el Tahir, called him a ‘Mujahid’ and described the United States’ ‘war on terror’ as a ‘genocide against Muslims’. Lawyer Ahmed Ibrahim is remembered as an Assembly member for what was then the National Islamic Front who pushed for full Sharia long before the NIF seized power in June 1989. NIF guru Hassan Abdullah el Turabi, who had already enforced a version of Islamic Law in September 1985, was typically ambivalent: Bin Laden ‘had good intentions’ but the 9-11 attacks were ‘a mistake’. Turabi effectively headed the NIF regime which set up terrorist training camps with Bin Laden in the early 1990s. Then, the NIF was implicated in the often forgotten first World Trade Center bombing in 1993, which killed six people and injured over 1,000. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation said that it was meant to topple the Twin Towers and that ‘Middle East terrorism had arrived on American soil’. The regime’s virtual public silence contrasts starkly with the fuss it made in the early 2000s, when its friends claimed that the NIF had tried in vain to hand over the Al Qaida leader to US President Bill Clinton. This improbable notion was widely taken up by retired US officials (usually politically hostile to Clinton) and Western journalists seeking new angles after the September 2001 attacks. There was little debate over whether the NIF intended to or could afford to betray a man who was so fundamental a part of its ideology and system. Having kept him in reserve for this purpose, the NIF had sold Illich Ramírez Sánchez (Carlos the Jackal) to French intelligence in 1994 (AC Vol 35 No 17). The subterfuge worked and the analogy with ‘Sheikh Usama’ spread internationally. It helped form the foundation of ‘intelligence cooperation’ with the USA. British and US officials have described this shadowy arrangement, later spearheaded by security chief Lieutenant General Salah Abdullah Mohamed ‘Gosh’, as saving Western lives. Today, the NCP no longer claims that it tried to hand over UBL to the USA. Indeed, many in Khartoum must be wondering whether they figure in the files seized by US special forces in Bin Laden’s Pakistani home. END ______________________ John Ashworth Sudan Advisor Sudan Ecumenical Forum [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +249 919 695 362 (Sudan mobile) +27 82 853 3556 (South Africa mobile) +44 750 304 1790 (UK/international) +88 216 4334 0735 (Thuraya satphone) PO Box 52002 - 00200, Nairobi, Kenya This is a personal e-mail address and the contents do not necessarily reflect the views of any organisation -- The content of this message does not necessarily reflect John Ashworth's views. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, John Ashworth is not the author of the content and the source is always cited. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sudan-john-ashworth" 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.co.za/group/sudan-john-ashworth -- 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.
