Gamal Nkrumah tries to unravel the high level CIA presence at a preposterous intelligence gathering in Khartoum If further proof were needed of the improbable cohabitation between the intelligence apparatuses of the United States and that of its favourite punching bag in Africa, Sudan, it came during the Fourth Conference of the Committee for Intelligence and Security Systems in Africa (CISSA). High-powered officers of America's infamous Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) rubbed shoulders with their Sudanese counterparts in Sudan's National Security and Intelligence Service (NISS). This comic carnal copulation took place at the sidelines of the CISSA and in the full view of Africa's intelligence chiefs. Sleeping with the enemy, as it were. The chief reason why the Americans are forced to do business with the Sudanese secret services is that Sudan is a vital link between Western intelligence agencies and the so-called terrorists in the US-led international war against terrorism. Casual observers can point to some superficial likeness between the CIA and NISS. They both use terror tactics to browbeat suspect -- real and imagined -- opponents. But in other ways their legends diverge. The contrast between their pitches is scandalously opposite. They are both avowedly sceptical of each other's grand plans. The past few months have been bittersweet for Sudan. The southern Sudanese oilfields, the source of much of Sudan's production, have largely escaped the worst of the violence in the country. And, while the oil revenues are gushing, the political developments are capping the flow. For certain Sudan observers, the oil is what both the Darfur conflict and especially the threat of secession by several southern Sudanese factions both within the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M) and outside its political parameters is all about. What is clear is that the multinational companies are increasingly interested in oil exploration and exploitation in the south of the country. Indeed, the SPLM government in southern Sudan has already agreed on production sharing agreement deals with a series of Asian and Western oil companies much to the consternation of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) of Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir in the national capital Khartoum. However, due to the absence of a stable security situation in the country, entering into a contract with the autonomous southern government is fraught with danger, especially in the event of subsequent disputes breaking out in the restless, oil-rich region. Be that as it may, where the SPLM government in the south has been significantly successful is in containing sabotage to its oil infrastructure. It is against this bright backdrop that the SPLM government has encouraged foreign investment in the lucrative oil sector. The fallout from falling international oil prices would, undoubtedly have ripple effects in Sudan. It seems to happen every time. The hardest problem for Sudan's proposed democratic constitution is to strike a balance between the central government and the claims of the country's outlying regions. Sudanese regions such as Darfur or southern Sudan for that matter can become thrusting autonomous political entities with an economic and cultural life of their own. All this will no doubt come at a political price. The leader of a faction of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), one of the main armed opposition groups in Darfur, Mini Arkou Minnawi accused the Sudanese government this week of attacking areas under his militias' control. Minnawi had struck a deal with the Sudanese authorities much to the chagrin of fellow Darfur opposition groups. He later rescinded, and turned against the government only to make up with Khartoum a few months later. The combined African Union and United Nations Peacekeeping Mission to Darfur (UNAMID) confirmed that the Sudanese authorities committed atrocities against innocent civilians in Darfur. The Sudanese government, however, rejected the accusation claiming instead that the military operations conducted in Darfur were in self-defence against bandits and in retaliation for provocations by the Darfur armed opposition groups. To his credit Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir stuck to his promise to engage in peace overtures to his adversaries in Darfur, even though he adamantly refuses to repeal the dreaded National Security Forces Act under which suspect civilians are often detained and tortured. The UN Office of the High Commission for Human Rights warned that three human rights activists were detained last week by the Sudanese security forces and interrogated for allegedly supplying information to the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Prosecutor-General of the ICC Luis Moreno Ocampo issued an arrest warrant for Al-Bashir in July aggravating the already tempestuous relationship between the Sudanese government and the UN. According to the UN, one of the three human rights activists, Mohamed Abdel-Moneim, was tortured while the other two -- Osman Hummaida and Amir Suleiman -- were manhandled during their interrogation. The UN assures that arbitrary detentions of political dissidents is used as a political weapon by the Sudanese government. Perhaps the confluence of oil interests, the apparent interest of foreigners to work with the southerners and the current push by the international community on these human rights issues is cornering Khartoum and leaving the Sudanese no option but to sleep with the enemy. But NISS ought to beware of the Cupid, CISSA, bringing it in cahoots with the CIA. This could well be the kiss of death.
