SPLM’s Arman may be prosecuted over alleged Israel visit: report
August 17, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The state prosecutors are moving to probe the Secretary General of the Northern sector of Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM-N) Yasir Arman in response to complaints filed by several government agencies claiming that he paid a visit to Israel recently.
The independent Al-Sudani newspaper on said that prosecutors are preparing to charge Arman with spying, collaborating with an enemy state, sedition and war against the state and other codes related to violating the Immigration and Nationality law.
Legal sources said that the possible lawsuit is based on the classification of Israel as an enemy state and that any Sudanese citizen who travels there would face criminal charges. The sources added that Arman, who is currently in Nairobi, will be summoned to appear before the State Security Prosecution division. Should he not show up for questioning a warrant may be issued for him through the Interpol.
However in an interview with the Cairo-based Al-Ahram newspaper Arman vehemently denied the report saying that during the North-South civil war which lasted over two decades he never visited Israel.
Arman said that “the dissemination of these lies and allegations reflect a deep crisis experienced by the one-party regime in Khartoum” adding that Khartoum is seeking to undermine a planned visit to Egypt by publishing these reports.
“On the one hand, it [the regime] is afraid of our ties as SPLM with Egypt more than it fears any relations we have with Israel, and it knows that there is a formal invitation presented by Egypt since two months ago to the SPLM-N chairman Malik Agar and myself as SPLM-N Secretary General….. It is working on the aborting any real Egyptian role in the Sudan despite talk of the Nile Valley love which does not have any basis in its actions” Arman said.
The SPLM-N figure slammed the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in Sudan saying that it is faced with many challenges and failures including the ongoing war in Darfur and South Kordofan, governance crisis and worsening economic situation.
He warned that Khartoum is heading towards further splitting up the country after the South’s secession through aggressive policies. Arman also ruled out any agreement between the NCP and other Northern opposition parties.
Some sources said that charges pressed against Arman are a prelude to banning activities of the SPLM-N.
The SPLM is a Southern based party but during the two decades civil war it managed to gather support in the north, particularly in the border regions of Blue Nile and the Nuba Mountains area of Southern Kordofan.
Following the South’s independence last month, it was announced that SPLM-N would become a separate party in the North. Sudanese officials have given conflicting positions on whether they would allow that.
Some NCP figures said they would not allow a party that has roots in a foreign country to operate in Sudan.
(ST)