Leading Sudanese columnist accuse government of backing Chadian rebels

By Wasil Ali

February 07, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — A prominent Sudanese columnist pointed fingers to his government of masterminding the latest offensive by Chadian rebels against the Ndjamena.

Osman Mirghani in his article published in Al-Sudani daily, questioned the fate of the money spent on “300 Toyota Land Cruiser and other equipments that were provided to the Chadian rebels”.

“What is the point of this costly investment in Chadian opposition who will desperately attempt to secure their eastern borders from a similar offensive, once they are in power?” Mirghani said.

Oil-rich Chad has accused Sudan of backing the rebels in an attempt to prevent deployment of a European force to protect refugees from the war-ravaged Darfur region that borders Chad. Sudan has long resisted such a force, but has denied involvement in Chad’s coup attempt.

The significance of Mirghani’s column stems from the fact that he was a member of Sudan’s Islamic movement that came to power following the 1989 coup led by President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir.

Many observers say that Mirghani is close to the Second Vice President Ali Osman Taha who has been sidelined in recent years as a result of a power struggle within the ruling National Congress Party (NCP).

However Mirghani, speaking to Sudan Tribune by phone firmly denied any links to Taha.

“I have lost contact with him [Taha] and have not met him in a very long time” he said.

Mirghani said he still stands by his article but acknowledged that he did not foresee the overwhelming response he received.

“The government did not refute what I wrote. They just made a general denial of involvement in the events that occurred in Chad” he added.

Salah Gosh, the head of Sudan’s National Security and Intelligence Service, lashed out at journalists in a press conference yesterday in what is believed to be an indirect response to Mirghani’s column.

The spy chief, who appeared shaken at the press conference, said that some journalists want to be “fake heroes” by accusing the government of supporting Chadian rebels describing that as “cheap”.

“We know that there are some journalists who are in contact with some embassies and receiving money from them” he added.

However Mirghani dismissed Gosh’s allegations and demanded that the names of those journalists be revealed.

Gosh also said that Sudan is working with Libya to mediate the current situation in Chad and disclosed that his government convinced Chadian rebels “to withdraw from the capital after they took control”.

But the Sudanese columnist said that Gosh’s statement is another proof of Khartoum’s involvement.

“If they convinced them to withdraw then that means the government has that degree of leverage on the Chadian rebels and in the same token they could have directed them to launch the attack to overthrow president Deby” Mirghani said.

He further said that Sudan’s defense minister Abdel-Rahim Mohamed Hussein must resign before noting that such a step would clearly implicate the government.

Asked about his opinion on the future of Sudanese-Chadian relations he said that President Idriss Deby will now be keen more than ever to mend fences with Khartoum and withdraw his support of Darfur rebels.

This is not the first time Mirghani got into trouble with the government. The newspaper was suspended in 2006 when he criticized the Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir for rejecting the deployment of UN peacekeepers.

Also last May he was arrested for accusing Sudan’s Justice Minister of lying about a money-laundering trial.

(ST)