Leaked minutes from a senior-level meeting of Khartoum officials, October 11, 2015 |
تسريب جديد لمحضر اجتماع بين كبار المسؤولين السودانيين في اكتوبر الماضي وتفاصيل خطيرة
Eric Reeves, 27 January 2016
I received today, from the same highly authoritative source as for previously leaked and web-posted minutes of senior-level meetings in Khartoum, a nine-page document entitled RESOLUTION AND OTHER MAIN POINTS MADE DURING PRESIDENT AL-BASHIR’S MEETING OF OCTOBER 11, 2015. The document (which begins with an overview dated November 6, 2015) includes: a summary of key points; a list of those in attendance; an agenda for the meeting; and comments by those in attendance.
I received both the original Arabic document as well as an English translation. What appears below are links to the Arabic text as well to the translation, and my partial rendering of the English translation in clearer, more idiomatic, and more consistent form (including use of more standard transliterations of the Arabic). At a few points the translation was ambiguous or unclear in meaning, and I used local and broader context as a guide for disambiguating the meaning of the English text. This task is ongoing, but several comments deserve immediate highlighting:
The Governor of South Darfur State speaks of the “burden” UNAMID creates for the regime and remarks ominously: “The displaced camps and NGOs [international humanitarian organizations] pose a direct threat to national security.”
Hamid Siddig, Deputy Islamic Movement Chairman for Organizational Affairs: “The Islamic Movement will not hand over power to anybody and we shall fight to the last man. We will not surrender and we will not allow formation of any transitional government. It’s the Islamic Movement’s idea to call for the National Dialogue…” “[W]e must crush the rebellion this year whatever the cost. We are not going to succumb to any blackmailing or bargaining by anybody.”
President al-Bashir: “We must use all means to evict UNAMID by the end of this year.”
“We must use all means to evict UNAMID by the end of this year.” President Omar al-Bashir, October 11, 2015
English translation appears at | http://wp.me/p45rOG-1QR
Arabic text at | http://wp.me/p45rOG-1QT
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• Fully authenticated previously leaked minutes of August 31, 2014 meeting | http://wp.me/p45rOG-1sq
(on the authenticity of these minutes, see | http://wp.me/p45rOG-1w5 )
• September 10, 2014 meeting | http://wp.me/p45rOG-1Fn
• July 1, 2014 meeting | http://wp.me/p45rOG-1Cb
• June 3, 2014 meeting | http://wp.me/p45rOG-1Ij
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Date: November 6, 2015
RESOLUTION AND OTHER MAIN POINTS MADE DURING PRESIDENT AL-BASHIR’S MEETING OF OCTOBER 11, 2015 (translator’s summary)
[I.] President al-Bashir
[1] They will comple UNAMID to withdraw from Darfur by force of will before the end of 2015;
[2] They will harbor/host the Egyptian Islamists by assisting, accommodating them, provide, security and investment opportunities in Sudan;
[3] They will not expel the Islamists in order to appease Egyptian President al-Sisi or the USA;
[4] Egyptian Islamist students are coming in large numbers to study in Khartoum;
[5] The al-Bashir regime will not respond to but rather ignore all of al-Sisi’s provocative acts and continue to support the Islamists’ efforts to take power from him one day, when they are at their full force;
[6] The regime has a secret deal with Dr. Riek Machar to help him through his governors of Upper Nile state to coordinate [with Khartoum] in controlling the border of Upper Nile state;
[7] There are rebel fighters among the refugees in White Nile State [Sudan] who go back and forth [to South Sudan];
[8] They [presumably the leaders of the Khartoum regime—ER] are the ones who decided to allow the secession of South Sudan, knowing that it would not continue to hold as a state but break up into small villages after independence;
[9] [We must—ER] Raise money to establish a trust fund with the aim of compensating the families of victims of the Darfur war crisis and thus manipulate them to ask the ICC to drop the case against al-Bashir
[comments from state governors and a general security assessment—ER]
[Beginning page 3]
In the name of God the most gracious and merciful
The Republic of Sudan
The Presidency of the Republic
Ministry of Federal Affairs | October 11, 2015
Attendance:
[I] Field Marshal/Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir, President of the Republic
[II] Faisl Hassan Ibrahim, Federal Affairs Minister
[III] Dr. Hamid Siddig, Deputy Islamic Movement Chairman for Organizational Affairs
[IV] al-Daw al-Mahi, Sinnar State Governor
[V] First Lt-General Abdelrahman Mohamed Hussein, Khartoum State Governor
[VI] Colonel (Intelligence) Anas Omer, East Darfur State Governor
[VII] Major General (Popular Intelligence) Abda Wahid Yusif Ibrahim, North Darfur State Governor
[VIII] Major General (Popular Intelligence) Adam Jammaa Adam, Kassala State Governor
[IX] Brigadier General (Popular Intelligence) Abu al-Gasim al-Amin Baraka, West Kordofan State Governor
[X] Major General (Intelligence) Ali Ahmed Hamid, Red Sea State Governor
[XI] Major General (Intelligence) Eisa Adam Abbakar, South Kordofan State Governor
[XII] Major General (Popular Intelligence) Khalil Abdalla Mohamed, West Darfur State Governor
[XIII] Ali al-Awad Mohamed Musa, Northern State Governor
[XIV] Mohamed Hamid al-Balla, River Nile State Governor
[XV] Major General (Popular Intelligence) Adam al-Faki Mohamed al-Tayib, South Darfur State Governor
[XVI] Major General (Intelligence) Mirghani Salih, Gedaref State Governor
[XVII] Hussein Yasin Hamid, Blue Nile State Governor
[XVIII] Mohamed Tahir Eila, Gezira State Governor
[XIX] Shartai/Jaafar Abdel-Hakam, Central Darfur State Governor
[XX] Abdelhamid Musa Kasha, White Nile State Govenor
*The meeting was attended by all 17 State governors;
*The President of the Republic and Chairman of the National Congress Party Welcomed the Governors to the meeting;
*The Federal Affairs Minister presented the directives intended to govern the functions of the State Governors;
Agenda
[a] Governors to report on security and political situations in their respective states as well as any progress achieved in the implementation of the State Reform Charter;
[b] Comments/reflections/reactions of the President concerning the Governors’ reports;
[c] Recommendations and resolutions;
[d] Governors are to present verbal summary of their reports and hand over the written reports to the Secretariat
Again, the full translation may be found at | http://wp.me/p45rOG-1QR
And the Arabic original may be found at | http://wp.me/p45rOG-1QT
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Leaked minutes from a senior-level meeting of Khartoum officials, October 11, 2015 | Comments of particular note
تسريب جديد لمحضر اجتماع بين كبار المسؤولين السودانيين في اكتوبر الماضي وتفاصيل خطيرة
Eric Reeves, 27 January 2016
Full English translation appears at | http://wp.me/p45rOG-1QR
Full Arabic text at | http://wp.me/p45rOG-1QT
Of particular note are the comments of:
Adam al-Faki, Governor of South Darfur State, concerning the “burden” UNAMID creates for the regime as well his ominous remark: “The displaced camps and NGOs [international humanitarian organizations] pose a direct threat to national security.”
Hamid Siddig, Deputy Islamic Movement Chairman for Organizational Affairs: “The Islamic Movement will not hand over power to anybody and we shall fight to the last man. We will not surrender and we will not allow formation of any transitional government. It’s the Islamic Movement’s idea to call for the National Dialogue…” “[W]e must crush the rebellion this year whatever the cost. We are not going to succumb to any blackmailing or bargaining by anybody.”
President al-Bashir: “We must use all means to evict UNAMID by the end of this year.”
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Other comments of note by al-Bashir:
“…we decided to separate the South because the cost of ruling it was high and because of the heterogeneous nature of the population. We expected that if the South broke away, it would not continue as a state but split into small villages. The so-called Sudan Revolutionary Forces are no longer in Darfur. We shall expel UNMID from Darfur against their will; in the end, they will leave Darfur of their own accord. We shall make it hell for them, so it is just a matter of time.”
“Al-Sisi of Egypt is antagonistic towards us because he feels we are against him. He is trying to provoke us, but we will ignore him. We shall continue to support the Muslim Brothers and host them…. We won’t chase the Muslim Brothers from our country for the sake of al-Sisi or America.”
“For [making life hell] for UNAMID we have many options.” [NB: there is overwhelming evidence that the majority of the most deadly attacks on UNAMID since January 2008 have been at the hands of militia forces working hand-in-glove with Khartoum and its SAF; see | http://wp.me/p45rOG-11S — ER]
“All of what you have said is agreed upon, and you must continue with the general mobilization, open more training camps, arrange to provide food for the Mujahidin, building the National Congress Party as a party for the purpose of the liberation of the whole land from the hands of the rebellion, peacefully or militarily.”
• One comment in these minutes stands out, suggesting that Khartoum is preparing to use “dirty” nuclear weapons:
Adam Jamma Adam, Governor of Kassala State:
“In coordination with the Military Industrial Corporation we have started to transport radioactive materials containers [from northeastern Sudan], which are likely to explode [?], to Jabel Um-Ali, with the aim of using them to make bombs and missiles for aerial bombardment and artillery shelling.”
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Many comments speak of a national military mobilization, evident most conspicuously in Darfur, but elsewhere in Sudan as well. Sudan is a nation continually in preparation for further war:
Mirghani Salih, Governor of Gedaref State:
“We have also formed committees to reorganize the party and recruit more students to membership in the National Congress Party. We mobilized youths and women to prepare food for the fighters in the coming dry season military offensive. We are also encouraging youths to enlist by joining the military service [Sudan Armed Forces], the Popular Defense Forces, and the Rapid Support Forces.”
Mohamed Hamid al-Balla, Governor of River Nile State:
“All the military barracks are ready to move on order. I paid a visit to the training centers of the Rapid Support Forces, the Popular Defense Forces, the National Service, and the artillery units and found an advanced kind of training taking place.”
Abdel-Hamid Musa Kasha, Governor of White Nile State:
“Our borders with the South are secured, and our forces are on standby. The training camps have graduated many men for the Rapid Support Forces, the Sudan Armed Forces, and the police; meanwhile, mobilization is still ongoing because our state is near the war that is raging in the South.”
“Additionally, we have a force ready to move to the operational areas of South Kordofan.”
Eisa Abbaka, Governor of South Kordofan State:
“We have managed to conscript thousands of the sons of the displaced people [of South Kordofan] and take them to training camps, because they know the nature of the terrain of the area [the Nuba Mountains]. We will give amnesty to anyone who voluntarily returns from rebellion.”
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Other comments speak to assisting Riek Machar and the SPLA/In Opposition politically and militarily, thus making peace in South Sudan more difficult to achieve:
Hussein Yasin, Governor of Blue Nile State:
[In order to “crush the rebels” in Blue Nile State—the SPLA/North–], “we must coordinate with Riek Machar [and the] governors of Upper Nile State, this in return for their access to development resources from us.”
President al-Bashir:
“After the implementation of the agreement [with South Sudan? – ER] we must coordinate with Dr. Riek Machar and the governors in Upper Nile State to help us monitor the border line [with South Sudan].
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Khartoum’s relationship with and encouragement of radical Islam are also revealed in many comments:
Al-Daw al-Mahi, Governor of Sinnar State:
“The membership of the Islamic Movement is increasing and the training of the cadre and future leaders is continuing.”
Mohamed Tahi Eila, Governor of Gezira State:
“[To face coming challenges, we have been] opening training camps for fighters and instill in their minds the spirit of Jihad and martyrdom…”
Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein, Govern of Khartoum State (indicted by the International Criminal Court for massive crimes against humanity in Darfur while Minister of the Interior and Defense Minister):
“We are also working to restructure the National Congress Party, the Islamic Movement, and the guidance council with the aim of creating a crusader generation, one that is ready to sacrifice for the sake of religion and the country. All the training camps are open to increase the numbers of police and other special forces to protect the national capital and its strategic national installations.”