Sudan — who is behind the coup?

Sudan presents a perfect example of a country subjected to continuous foreign intervention. It deserves more attention from the international community. The country has especially been neglected by Islamic observers, who miss a key element in the composition of the Ummah when they miss Sudan. The country is literally being used as an erodible sidewall in the citadel of Islam.

Eroding away Sudan, especially from its bulwark brotherly neighbour Egypt became an existential need for Israel from the very beginning. Four years after the creation of Israel, Gamal Abdel Nasser had overthrown the British-backed monarchy in Egypt, soon after nationalising the Suez Canal. With Nasser’s pan-Arabism, there was a strong wave of uniting the Arab world under one flag and the same was being felt in Sudan. Sudan had been part of the Egyptian empire until 1899 when the British interference had forced the Egyptians to separate Sudan as a condominium shared between Egypt and Britain. With Nasser’s popularity in the Arab world, some Arab-nationalist elements in Sudan were inclined towards a union with Egypt, but the British convinced the emerging leadership in Sudan to bid for an independent state under the protection of the crown.

Later, Sudan remained embroiled in three civil wars, the first one starting even before its independence, in 1955, and the last one ending in 2020. In the first two wars, the secessionists of South Sudan were supported by Israel, Ethiopia, Uganda. Israel was a major ally of the US, while the Sudanese government was supported by the Arab countries and the Soviet Union. The Israeli government and the Israeli Defense Forces consolidated the South Sudanese rebel movement, the Anya-Nya, by erecting their administrative apparatus and constantly supplying small arms.

At the national level, the war seemed to be a contest between the predominantly Arabised, Muslim north and the traditional south, where Christian missionary work had made a large foothold. But on the international level, the war was between North Sudan’s Arab affiliates in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Soviet camp — and South Sudan’s racial and religious affiliations with African countries south of the Sahara, and the Israel-US camp. The Israel-US camp was willing to support the south and prop-up the conflict to create difficulties for Arab states who wanted Israel removed for the Middle Eastern map.

By 2011, the war between the north and south was over and South Sudan had become an independent state. So, the question that arises is why are the Sudanese still fighting and facing political turmoil? As early as 2003, reports of the use of Israeli weapons surfaced in another ongoing rebel war that flared up in the Darfur region. Just two years after the inception of South Sudan, the nascent country fell into a battle again. According to a United Nations (UN) report, Israeli surveillance equipment was used, and South Sudan’s government forces were equipped with automatic micro Galil rifles. What could be the intent this time if not to balkanise the country further. The same is happening in the Kordofan region since 2011. Both the rebel factions are allied with the Israeli-backed South Sudan government.

In this air of continuous warfare and chaos, when Sudan’s Omer al-Bashir was ousted after an eight-month-long protest two years ago, it looked like that finally the voice of the real people had emerged in Sudan. But it turned out that foreign organisations like National Endowment for Democracy, IDEA, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and others had been behind the heaps of committees and non-governmental platforms that had materialised in 2010. They were later reorganised under different associations and unions that all rallied against Omer al-Bashir in 2019. This is the same dark trend that has been identified in many recent colour revolutions. Organising grassroots level dissidence and using it for regime change in social media have aided revolutionary events. One should reckon that imposed, exported, foreign-inspired democracy can only be a form of mental slavery.

Meanwhile, Israel has been wary of al-Bashir’s policy of allying with Iran and becoming a conduit for Iranian weapons to Hamas in Gaza. Bashir’s tilt towards Iran and Russia was a natural result of Israel’s support for the secessionists in the south. Even so, there was a shift of alliance in 2017, when Saudi Arabia and Qatar deposited over $2 billion in Sudan’s Central Bank in return for Sudanese boots-on-ground in Yemen to fight the Houthis.

Months before he was ousted, al-Bashir hinted that he had been advised to normalise ties with Israel to stabilise the growing domestic unrest. However, he believed that ‘sustenance is in the hands of God’ — therefore his removal remained a necessity. With the organised protest, Bashir was replaced by Abdalla Hamdok, an economist with an illustrious international career, in the African Development Bank and the UN Economic Commission for Africa. Hamdok was a US favourite. With Hamdok, Sudan became the third Arab state to normalise relations with Israel in the Abraham Accords in mid-2021 — Washington removed Khartoum from its blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism and an aid agreement of $1 billion was signed. Israel was also allowed to use the Sudanese airspace.

However, the Transitional Military Council that was keeping all the powers and that consisted of military personnel of Bashir’s time were not happy with this change of air — and on 25^th October, they removed Hamdok in another coup — disappointing the Israeli-US camp once again.

Since its inception, Sudan has been a victim of foreign interferences that have kept it mired in civil wars. Military strongmen have controlled the country upon their whims; they have been unable to rid the country of famine, disease, and economic stagnation. This draws attention towards the group of powerful states that want to slice off pieces of the country to fulfil their ‘interests’ of ‘power’ and ‘control’. In the last six decades, they have continuously ignited and fueled wars that have killed approximately 3.5 million Sudanese and displaced many more. It raises the question; how has any of this helped the Sudanese people and their livelihoods.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 5^th, 2021.

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