Sudanese security chief pledges to boost ‘soft and hard powers’

March 7, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – In an open defiance to the constitutional reforms laid on the table of the Sudanese parliament, the director-general of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) Tuesday vowed to develop the soft and hard powers of his agency.

Mohamed Atta made his pledges in a speech he delivered at the NISS complex in Khartoum North during a celebration of the Achievement Medal, a military decoration recently given by President Omer al-Bashir to the members and director of the security agency.

The statement is seen as a declared opposition to the ”Freedoms” document filed to the parliament last January in order to curtail the powers of the NISS related to the arbitrary detention and press censorship and confiscations.

The disputed reform is part of constitutional reforms endorsed by the National Dialogue Conference to reduce NISS influence and limits its role to the gathering and analysis of information.

“The NISS will remain a watchful eye and a multifaceted power, soft and hard, to protect the country, the destiny of the people and the future of Sudan,” Atta said.

He stressed that the NISS will not concede its main powers but will expand it and be more powerful.

The NISS director also said the crises that the country experienced forced the NISS members to wear the khaki.

Last February, NISS deputy director Osama Mukhtar voiced his opposition to any attempt to curtails the power of the security agency and called to enhance its powers to fight the threats that the country is facing.

(ST)