SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Radio Dabanga - ‘Sudan coup result of warped incentive structures that trace back to the Al Bashir era’

4/11/2021: Radio Dabanga - ‘Sudan coup result of warped incentive structures that trace back to the Al Bashir era’

Radio Dabanga report that The Sentry attribute the coup to security services “preserving the violent kleptocratic… [as state control provides] continued opportunities to accrue wealth [and protection] from accountability”, and call for the international community to confront Sudan’s security services’ warped incentive structures.

The Sentry propose the international community financially pressures the military wealth by: imposing targeted network sanctions of coup plotters, targeting the networks of companies controlled by Sudanese military and security agencies, with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issuing an advisory on the money laundering risks associated with the Sudanese army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and foreign companies, including banks, assessing their commercial ties to Sudan to ensure they are not inadvertently funding Sudan’s security services.

The Sentry add that while “some concessions may be inevitable…[security services’] free rein over lucrative economic sectors and amnesty…should be off the table.”

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: The Sentry - A Strategy for Revitalizing Sudan’s Democratic Transition

4/11/2021: The Sentry - A Strategy for Revitalizing Sudan’s Democratic Transition, by Suliman Baldo and JR Mailey

To revive Sudan’s democratic transition, The Sentry call for the establishment of priorities for intelligence collection on those behind the coup, and order to impose targeted financial consequences on those undermining democratic progress.

The Sentry call for: the mapping of security service personnel involved in the coup, collecting financial intelligence on them, thereby providing precise targets for financial pressure and accountability. The Sentry add that that security services’ networks of proxies for involvement in illicit commercial activities is necessary for investigators and intelligence agencies in collecting evidence about the military’s banks, service providers and suppliers.

In addition, the Sentry call for a spotlight on disinformation attempts used by Sudanese counter-revolutionary forces, with governments, technology companies and civil society needing to take steps to expose such activities, and the US government called upon to issue a data call to intelligence agencies that have information about the disinformation campaigns.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: African Arguments – “This Is Not a Coup”: Protestors in Sudan Aren’t “Unrealistic”

4/11/2021: African Arguments – “This Is Not a Coup”: Protestors in Sudan Aren’t “Unrealistic”, by an anonymous author

 Amid negotiations between Sudanese army chief Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan and former prime minister Abdallah Hamdok, African Arguments’ anonymous author warns that protesters, who seek an end to brutality, corruption and human rights violations, do not trust Hamdok - “a man of compromise who will be pressured by the military to sign a bad deal,” potentially appointing a cabinet that has no power.

Under negotiation are, reportedly: the state of emergency, release of political detainees, Hamdok selecting government officials, military immunity for the June 3 massacre and political representation, and the dismantlement of the anti-corruption committee.

The author adds that accountability for military use of live ammunition on peaceful protesters is absent from negotiations, and that “the only purpose for the military’s continued internet shutdown is punishing civilians and using web access as a bargaining chip internet shutdown,” with civilian politicians “effectively being held hostage”.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Africa Confidential - Burhan tries to negotiate after coup falters

4/11/2021: Africa Confidential -  Burhan tries to negotiate after coup falters

After failing to build civilian support the coup, Africa Confidential (AC) suggest that army commander-in-chief Abdulfattah al-Burhan’s attempts to build a political force by re-integrating Islamists suggests “a lack of planning even among al-Burhan’s inner circle”.

AC cite the release and re-arrest of - Ibrahim Ghandour (head of the former ruling National Congress Party [NCP]), Mohamed Hamid Tabidi and al-Shazly Maddeh (National Intelligence and Security Services), and Mohamed al-Jizuli, an ISIS supporter.

AC note the arrest of Deputy Director of the Central Bank, Farouk Kambrisi, “allegedly for not signing a transfer of funds to a company owned by the military,” with Abdelbasit Hamza, a businessman who managed the NCP's biggest companies, released.

AC also note that al-Burhan wants to disband the Tamkeen committee that retrieved illicitly-gained assets tied of the former regime, with “some reconstituted form of investigation and assets search [potentially] part of negotiations to restructure the transitional institutions.”

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Wall Street Journal - Military Coups in Africa at Highest Level Since End of Colonialism

4/11/2021: Wall Street Journal - Military Coups in Africa at Highest Level Since End of Colonialism, by Benoit Faucon, Summer Said and Joe Parkinson

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report that, the day before the coup, army commander-in-chief Abdulfattah al-Burhan flew to Egypt to gain support from president Abdulfattah al-Sisi, according to three people familiar with the meeting.

WSJ add that, before the coup, Egypt’s intelligence chief, Abbas Kamel, met al-Burhan, but shunned deposed civilian prime minister Abdallah Hamdok. The Egyptians are “unhappy” with Hamdok over his public openness to an Ethiopian dam that al-Sisi’s government “says threatens to choke off the waters that run into the Nile”, alongside his reluctance to deepen ties with Israel. A Sudanese government adviser said Kamel told al-Burhan that “Hamdok has to go”

Furthermore, the WSJ add, diplomats and analysts attribute the surge in African coups to international powers’ willingness to deal with authoritarian regimes, with the root causes for African coups remaining: struggling economies weakened by poor and corrupt governance and persistent security challenges.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Radio Dabanga – Journalists call for ‘full and uncompromised internet services’ to be restored in Sudan

4/11/2021: Radio Dabanga – Journalists call for ‘full and uncompromised internet services’ to be restored in Sudan

Radio Dabanga report that the Sudanese Journalists Association for Human Rights (JAHR) called on the authorities in Sudan to restore full and uncompromised internet services, as it is one of the means that underpins the public’s the right to know the truth and the right to information.

JAHR points out that “cutting off of the Internet, among its many economic and social damages, prevented print and electronic media from being published, and from reaching the public in Sudan. “At the same time depriving the Sudanese public of the right to “browse” and the right to know the news, to follow current events from various sources, and it deprives every one of the right to benefit from the Internet, including ‘citizen journalism’ and the prevention of freedom of expression through social media and applications”.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Egypt declined to join calls supporting Sudan’s transitional gov’t: U.S.

4/11/2021: Sudan Tribune - Egypt declined to join calls  supporting Sudan’s transitional gov’t: U.S.

Sudan Tribune report that the US State Department said it sought in vain to involve Egypt in a joint statement with Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the UK calling for the reinstatement of the civilian transitional government in Sudan.

Ned Price, State Department Spokesperson, declined to disclose why Egypt has refused, saying such an explanation for the Egyptian position should be given by Egypt.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Reuters - Sudan discussing cash transfers to poor as part of food subsidies plan - prime minister

4/11/19: Reuters - Sudan discussing cash transfers to poor as part of food subsidies plan - prime minister, by Ulf Laessing

 Reuters reports that Sudanese prime minister Abdallah Hamdok has said that Sudan is discussing several scenarios such as cash transfers for poor people, to accompany planned subsidies for food and other basic goods.

 Hamdok said the plan includes subsidies for drugs, medical services and education, adding that the issue of subsidies “is one of the most important and biggest challenges.”

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Radio Dabanga - Sudan army denies Yemen war casualty claims

4/11/19: Radio Dabanga - Sudan army denies Yemen war casualty claims

 Radio Dabanga reports that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has denied claims by the Houthi group that more than 4,000 Sudanese soldiers have been killed since involvement in the Yemen war.

 Houthi spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree also alleged that the Saudi-UAE coalition does not transfer the bodies of fallen Sudanese soldiers to their families, allegations which SAF spokesman Brigadier General Amer El Hassan labelled “baseless.”

 El Hassan also said that reports of 10,000 Sudanese soldiers withdrawing from Yemen are innacurate.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Religious affairs minister denies ISIS presence in Sudan

4/11/19: Sudan Tribune - Religious affairs minister denies ISIS presence in Sudan

 Sudan Tribune reports that Sudan’s Minister of Religious Affairs, Nasr al-Din Mufreh, has denied the existence of ISIS in Sudan but acknowledged the existence of a large group of extremists produced by the former regime.

 In an interview with Asharq al-Awsat, Mufreh said that Sudan has a religious discourse from which extremism arises, with isolated Islamist elements trying to exploit mosques to promote their ideas. Mufreh vowed to disseminate "serious speech in the mosques to call for moderation and the fight against extremism." He also said that his ministry is combatting extremism by modifying the school curriculum.

 In addition, Mufreh stated that the Muslim Brotherhood project in Sudan has been defeat in political and social life.