Criminal charges against Sudanese opposition leader intended to weaken coalition, analyst

Sudan's intelligence service has filed a criminal complaint against the leader of a major opposition party, disputing claims a counter-insurgency unit looted, raped and committed arson. The National Intelligence and Security Service brought the complaint against Umma party leader Sadiq al-Mahdi, according to reports on Tuesday. He had made comments during a news conference last week about the Rapid Support Forces, saying that it contained non-Sudanese militia elements within its ranks. He said the RSF was responsible for violence in Darfur. RFI spoke to Martin Rupiya, an analyst from Consultancy Africa Intelligence.

Reuters/Zohra Bensemra

Do you think this criminal complaint is intended to discredit Sadiq al-Mahdi?

Within Khartoum one is beginning to see [President Omar] al-Bashir getting quite old, using a walking stick, etc, and [People's Congress Party leader Hassan] al-Turabi and others beginning to succeed in pulling together the political opposition as it were. And so the targeting of one political opposition member may well be a tactic by the government in Khartoum seeking to destroy the coalition which is building up around al-Turabi.

How will this affect the process of national dialogue between the ruling National Congress Party and opposition parties?

I don’t see any serious efforts being paid towards a national dialogue. Certainly the centre is not holding as before. Part of it may well be the money from the oil is not coming through as regularly. But also the structures that are predicting the life after Bashir appear to indicate that the different parts of Sudan may actually be on the point of secession or breaking up. And the centre is not holding, this is the sense I get.

Do the Rapid Support Forces have non-Sudanese militia elements?

Many of them have temporary elements like al-Qaeda and other forces that come and go. In that region, in the horn, a number of groups - rebel groups, call them what you like - can fight a proxy war with a particular group and then they can break off and disappear. So there are a number of groups that can come together, do a particular operation and then separate for different reasons. So for reasons of religion, reasons of ethnicity, reasons of being political opposition, they may find a common ground at a particular point to act together and then break off. So, yes, there are elements that are not necessarily of one particular party that can be seen to be acting. That’s why I think the charges that are being laid may in fact be much more about attempting to stop any further creation of a very strong political coalition.

Will this criminal complaint stick then?

It may stick, but the point is to what extent can they be carried out. Because I think although they are criminal charges, we must not forget that there is a political motive on why these criminal charges are being laid.