VZCZCXRO8714
PP RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #0559 1011337
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 101337Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0527
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 000559 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/SPG, S/CRS 
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KPKO SOCI AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: SUDANESE LEADERS COMPLAIN ABOUT FOREIGN INFLUENCE 
 
REF: (A) KHARTOUM 506 
(B) KHARTOUM 462 
 
¶1. (SBU) Speaking at a March 31 to April 1 workshop "Foreign 
Presence and its impact on National Sudanese Security" organized by 
the National Assembly Committee on security and Defense, National 
Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) Chief Salah Abdullah 
Muhammad, aka Salah Ghosh, called on the national assembly to enact 
legislation to temper the foreign presence in Sudan.  During his 
address, Ghosh accused Western Embassies and NGOs of "transgressing 
the lines and recruiting informants to provide their embassies with 
intelligence harmful to national security" and revealed unspecified 
violations committed by ambassadors and instances in which western 
embassies directly intervened in Sudan's internal affairs, among 
other transgressions. He also charged that some journalists are 
working for foreign embassies and that embassies are trying to 
influence Sudanese government agencies. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Ghosh further asserted that some NGOs entered Darfur with a 
mandate for humanitarian relief but ultimately worked for foreign 
embassies and provided them with what he claimed was false 
information regarding the region.  Other Sudanese speakers at the 
conference included Refugees Commission Dr. Mohammed Ahmed Alagash 
who warned against American and Israeli intelligence agencies 
working under the guise of humanitarian agencies.  He also 
highlighted Sudan's history of accepting refugees and urged for 
controls regulating voluntary return. Under-Secretary of the 
Ministry of Labor al-Tayeb Mukhtar stated that there is a plot to 
keep qualified Sudanese labor from working on public works projects 
and claimed that 75 percent of the public works projects in Sudan go 
to foreign companies. Ghosh also echoed this sentiment, claiming 
that the foreign presence had created a redundancy of Sudanese 
workers in the labor market. (Note: The labor issue of course has 
nothing to do with the U.S. or the West and has more to do with 
Chinese projects. End note.) 
 
¶3. (SBU) Ghosh deplored the absence of national legislation not only 
as a means of regulating western diplomats and NGOs, but also in 
terms of empowering the government to deal with illegal migrants, 
particularly those from neighboring countries.  He raised the 
dangers posed by the presence of illegal foreigners to the security 
of Sudan, including extremist elements. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Separately, Second Vice President Ali Osman Taha, speaking 
in the eastern Sudan city of Gadarif on April 4, said that foreign 
intelligence agencies and organizations are planning to take 
advantage of the planned 2009 elections.  He claimed that western 
powers want "democracy without political stability" aimed at 
creating conflict that leads to the destabilization of a country. 
He proposed dialogue and national reconciliation to counter Western 
attempts at dividing the country. 
 
¶5. (SBU) DUP parliamentarian Dr. Mudawi al-Turabi told CDA Fernandez 
on April 10 that Ghosh's comments were aimed at securing easy 
passage of his NISS budget from the National Assembly (something we 
find hard to believe) and also the latest in the Sudanese 
spymaster's efforts to demonstrate his utility to his political 
patrons in the National Congress Party (this is a more likely 
explanation). 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment: Post agrees with observers who say that Ghosh's 
statement were in response to recent reports of closer U.S.-GOS 
relations (in the wake of FM Deng Alor's February trip to the U.S.) 
and a warning shot to the West to watch its steps in Sudan and not 
overreach.  Ghosh undoubtedly wanted to reassure anti-western and 
anti-U.S. elements in Sudan that he is vigilant in his relations 
with the U.S. and foreigners.  Vice-President Taha's statements can 
also be viewed in the context of burnishing anti-West rhetoric while 
trying to preserve its radical Islamist credentials among its core 
supporters. 
 
FERNANDEZ