Sudan’s NCP dismisses Wikileaks cables
September 14, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party has shrugged off the revelations contained in the U.S. diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks, saying they would not undermine trust between party members.
Most notably, the cables revealed that Sudan had discreetly asked for U.S. help to normalize ties with Israel, that the famous businessman Osama Daoud is broadly critical of the country’s government, and that the presidential adviser Musa Hilal is blaming the ruling party for the atrocities that took place in the western region of Darfur.
The NCP’s head of political sector, Qutbi Al-Mahdi, cited the example of the Wikileaks cable on a meeting in February 2010 between Sudan’s presidential adviser Ghazi Salah Al-Din and U.S. special envoy to Sudan Scott Gration, saying that the meeting was not secret and that Ghazi himself wrote about it.
According to the said cable, Salah Al-Din told his U.S. interlocutor that the Doha peace talks on Darfur were bound to fail if Al-Fur, the largest ethnic group in the region, were excluded.
Salah Al-Din, also according to the cable, urged Gration to continue to engage with Al-Fur rebels and civil society to join the peace process which concluded in July with the signing of Darfur Peace Agreement with a single rebel faction.
Al-Mahdi said that the timing and selective manner in which these cables were released indicate the purpose of them which, according to him, is to continue the campaign targeting Sudan.
“These releases are worthless and nothing but an attempt to discredit leaders who proved their loyalty to Sudan for over 20 years,” Al-Mahdi told reporters in Khartoum on Monday.
He further said, in an effort to offset the revelation of Sudan’s pursuit to normalize ties with the Jewish state, that Khartoum strongly supports the Palestinian cause.
Sudan already denied it sought to normalize ties with Israel, saying that Wikileaks releases are fabricated.
(ST)