Sudan - The Scoop

Sudan is a big, bad, ugly place with a belligerent, extreme Islamic government hell-bent on choking the entire country under Islam's shroud. Khartoum is Terrorist Central. The country is one massive training camp for suicide bombers, hijackers, assassins, car bombers, grenade chuckers and synagogue saboteurs. Three guys who were involved in the plot to assassinate Egyptian President Mubarak are in Sudan getting their hair cut and nails done and watching the V Channel, despite an OAU call for the government to hand over the thugs. In all, there are an estimated 15,000 militants living or training in Sudan. This Allah's hornet nest hasn't gone unnoticed by the UN, though, who slapped diplomatic and travel sanctions on Khartoum in April 1997.

The Khartoum government has had its work cut out for it keeping the lid on the insurgent SPLA, whose numbers have swelled while chalking up battlefield wins in the south and east of Sudan in 1997 with CIA assistance. The mainly-Christian SPLA, through the efforts of the American covert intelligence community, has gotten an overhaul in recent months. Its warlord-style commanders have been diced from the ranks. Egypt, Eritrea, Uganda and Ethiopia have also boosted the SPLA's capacity to out-muscle Sudanese troops. The SPLA has teamed up with another rebel group, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-which includes the Beja Congress Armed Forces-and their joint offensives have overrun army garrisons in a drive westward from Ethiopia and Eritrea. These joint operations have posed the greatest threat to the Khartoum regime to date.

The NDA-based in Asmara, Eritrea-is moving to cut off Khartoum's access to the Red Sea. They've captured some towns in the east and pose a threat to hydroelectric projects in both Roseires and Kassala. A number of Sudanese opposition groups, with CIA support, are training their forces at camps in Eritrea. It is expected all of the camps will soon be united under the command of the NDA's leader, General Fathi Ahmed Ali. Eritrea makes no secret of its support for the rebels. Asmara cut ties with Khartoum in December 1994. To rub it in Sudan leader Omar al-Bashir's face, Eritrea gave the former Sudanese embassy to Sudanese rebels for use as a headquarters.

As he has done in other of the world's nastiest places, ex-prez Jimmy Carter has been brokering broken knuckles between Sudan's bullies. He doctored a brief cease-fire in 1995 and got four insurgent groups to bite his carrot in April 1997. The four southern groups-fresh with a surprisingly decent 501K package, including limited autonomy, rights to a secession referendum and permission to keep their guns-then formed an alliance, the Southern Sudan Defense Forces (SSDF), to help off the SPLA. We're not sure what kind of wrist-slapping Carter got by the CIA when he got home. As DP goes to press there is a pissing contest going on between islamist Turabi and President Bashir. Bashir is tired of fighting religious inspired wars with Eritrea, Uganda and in the south.