SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: New York Times – ‘They Lied.’ Inside the Frantic Days Leading to Sudan’s Coup
With the military fearing that “any measures of accountability would expose their personal, financial and factional interests,” NYT’s feature piece explores motivations for the coup.
Noting that army chief Abdulfattah al-Burhan heads the board of trustees for one of the military’s biggest firms, Suliman Baldo of the Sentry said that al-Burhan is “doubling up as a corporate baron”.
Sudan analyst Jihad Mashamoun notes that al-Burhan and Rapid Support Forces chief Himedti were reluctant to step down amid ex-President Omar al-Bashir’s potential transfer to the International Criminal Court for atrocities in Darfur, as they fear being implicated and “would like…some immunity”.
Nonetheless, Sudanese ambassador to the US, Nureldin Satti, suggested that “some civilians did not understand the importance of alleviating the military’s fears,” with deposed civilian Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, “a technocrat by training and temperament” lacking “the political skills to manage the tensions… he pushed too hard, too fast.”