SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Associated Press - Sudanese take aim at Islamist 'deep state' left by al-Bashir

4/5/19: AP - Sudanese take aim at Islamist 'deep state' left by al-Bashir

 AP reports that Sudanese protesters say their revolution won't be complete until they have dismantled what many describe as an Islamist-dominated "deep state" that underpinned his 30-year rule.

 Omar Al Bashir and the Islamists "went to great lengths to create an Islamist deep state," by establishing multiple security forces and shadow party militias, said Dame Rosalind Marsden, an expert on Sudan at Chatham House.

Marsden added that they "politicized the army and other state institutions and enabled regime insiders to take control of key sectors and companies within the economy…this Islamist deep state constitutes a formidable barrier to real change."

"Most of the Islamist groups have been supporting a strong role for the military in the transitional period, probably because they see them as a potential shield against secularists in the opposition." said Willow Berridge, a professor at Newcastle University who has written a book about Sudan's Islamists.