KHARTOUM, Sudan
Before Sudan army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan got locked into a brutal war with his former deputy, he was propelled to power by powerful Islamists - a tide now turning against him, according to analysts.
Under the regime of
Islamist-military ruler Omar al-Bashir, Islamists dominated the government,
building powerful networks of financial, commercial and political influence.
al-Burhan has attempted to
distance himself from the Islamists, including by releasing statements against
Bashir's old party.
According to one military
analyst from the region, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity for safety
reasons, "the Islamists have worked since 1989 to gain their hold over the
army."
"Al-Burhan tried to get
rid of some of them," he said, but was only able to dismiss a few.
The Islamists maintained
powerful positions in Sudan's security apparatus and on October 25, 2021,
Burhan "bowed to pressure and launched his coup," Sudanese author
Amir Babiker told AFP.
The takeover - for which he
collaborated with now-enemy Rapid Support Force leader Mohamed Dagalo - ousted
civilian officials from a power-sharing arrangement that was to lead to full
civilian rule.
Quickly, al-Burhan cracked
down on a commission responsible for dismantling the financial networks and
economic empires that Bashir's allies had built.
Pro-democracy activists warned
their revolution was being reversed, as several high-ranking officials from the
Bashir era found roles in al-Burhan's administration.
In the early weeks of the war,
more top officials from Bashir's regime escaped from prison, and the NCP itself
reappeared to voice its support for the army.
"They're taking advantage
of the exceptional situation the country is in to secure their place" in
the future political landscape, according to Mirghani.
According to experts,
al-Burhan seems to be facing more and more pressure from his own camp.
On Friday, he sent a letter to
United Nations' Secretary=General Antonio Guterres requesting the dismissal of
special envoy Volker Perthes, who has long been the target of accusations of
"foreign intervention."
Thousands of military and
Islamist supporters held protests in the months leading up to the war,
demanding the U.N. mission chief's dismissal.
Days before fighting began,
the U.N. urged Sudanese authorities to investigate after a man publicly called
for Perthes' murder at a conference of Islamist parties and others linked to
the Bashir regime.
In his letter, Burhan accused
Perthes of bias and of stoking the war by presenting a misleading picture of
the situation in Sudan.
"Without these signs of
encouragement, the rebel leader Daglo would not have launched his military
operations," the letter read.
It has never been possible to
verify who fired the first shots of the war, which al-Burhan must fight on
multiple fronts in order to survive, according to Mirghani.
His own supporters readily
remind the public that Burhan himself named Dagalo as his second-in-command -
an ambitious militia leader originally armed by Bashir to crush rebels in
Darfur.
Islamist and pro-Bashir
television channels in exile now accuse al-Burhan of giving too much leeway to
Dagalo, which some suggest lays the groundwork for his eventual sidelining.
"At the end of the day,
he's a soldier whose job is done when the mission is over," Mirghani told
AFP.
"This could happen with
this war."
No comments:
Post a Comment