Sudan’s al-Bashir entrusts close assistant with Darfur dossier

September 4, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir today, has officially charged his close assistant, Nafi Ali Nafi, of the dossier of Darfur. Al Bashir announced his decision during a meeting of the Higher Committee for the Implementation of the Darfur Peace Agreement.

Nafi Ali Nafi, a presidential assistant and the deputy chairman of the ruling National Congress Paris, replaces the late Majzoub al-Khalifa who died at the end of last June in a road crash in northern Sudan.

According to the AU-UN road map, peace talks between Khartoum and the rebel groups have to start in the next October.

Nafi, is considered as one of the hardliner circle in the ruling party. He is one of the members of the National Islamic Front (NFI) inner core and participated in the organization of the 1989 coup. Also, he was a close ally of the vice president Ali Osman Taha, but the two men diverged during the Naivash peace talks with the former rebel SPLM.

As negotiator to Naivasha peace talks, Nafi was opposed to concessions made by Ali Osman Taha to the former rebels. Since, he is one of the close allies of Omar al-Bashir.

Nafi, who was the responsible of the NFI security and intelligence body, is well known for his stint as security and intelligence chief in the early 90’s where he reshaped the country’s security and intelligence apparatus.

(ST)