Sudan denies any intelligence cooperation with US on Iraq
By Wasil Ali
June 13, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan’s spy agency issued a statement today denying reports that it is assisting the US in tracking down insurgents in Iraq.
The Los Angeles Times published a report on Monday highlighting the cooperation between the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) to infiltrate armed groups in Iraq.
The report was quoting CIA officials who said that Sudan has “assembled a network of informants in Iraq providing intelligence on the insurgency”. The role of NISS acting as a proxy for CIA has also extended to Somalia where the US believes that al-Qaeda suspects are hiding.
The spokesman for NISS stressed that all cooperation with CIA is conducted exclusively on Sudanese soil and “never had been extended beyond boundaries to reach territories of other states particularly those countries which have mutual interest with Sudan based on exchange respect to national sovereignty”.
The statement by NISS contradicted sharply with those made by Sudan’s former foreign minister Mustafa Osman Ismail who acknowledged in an interview that his country has “served as the eyes and ears of the CIA in Somalia”.
The NISS condemned the report saying that it “lacked credibility and ill intentioned aiming at Sudan and NISS institution in particular”.
The report renewed criticisms by some activist that the US is avoiding being harsh on Sudan with respect to Darfur crisis so as not to jeopardize intelligence cooperation.
A state department official who spoke to Sudan Tribune last April said that despite the fact that “US-Sudanese relationship is in its worst phases”, cooperation on counter-terrorism is continuing.
Some analysts speaking to Sudan Tribune said that the timing of the report was intended to embarrass the Bush administration. They suggested that the administration may be divided over the US policy on Sudan.
US President Bush signed an order in late May enforcing sanctions against 31 Sudanese companies owned or controlled by Sudan’s government from the U.S. banking system. The sanctions also prevent three Sudanese individuals from doing business with U.S. companies or banks.
(ST)