Profile: Sudan's Ex-Intelligence Chief Salah Gosh

Salah Gosh, Arabic Website
Salah Gosh, Arabic Website
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Profile: Sudan's Ex-Intelligence Chief Salah Gosh

Salah Gosh, Arabic Website
Salah Gosh, Arabic Website

Sudan has finally succeeded in replacing its notorious intelligence Chief Salah Abdallah Mohamed Saleh, also known as Salah Gosh. During his tenure, the government body not only held a bad reputation but also was accused of orchestrating oppressive sweeps and violence against the people.

Gosh, who resigned two days ago, had buckled under the pressure of civil protests that marched for the removal of all stalwarts that served the former regime of the deposed Omar al-Bashir.

Among the host of accusations the former intelligence chief is condemned for by the public are; his spearheading of oppressive operations against demonstrators since December 19th and systematic killings targeting activists over the course of the last four months.

Gosh is believed to also have been plotting, with the help of his CIA connections, to become Sudan’s next president.

Born in 1957 in a far-off north Sudan town, Gosh grew up to graduate from the Faculty of Engineering at Khartoum University, where he participated in political activity linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.

After graduating, Gosh pursued an intelligence career with the Nationalist Islamic Front, led by longtime hard-line ideological leader Hassan Al-Turabi. After a military junta took over the African country in 1989, Gosh officially joined national intelligence apparatuses.

Despite moving up the hierarchy, getting himself appointed as head of operations, Gosh’s career received a serious blow after he was caught plotting to assassinate, then Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak.

The intelligence strongman is also suspected of having close relations with former al-Qaeda chief, Osama bin Laden, whose records show he had a years-long stay in Khartoum until 1998.

In a surprise announcement in 2009, Bashir assigned Gosh as a presidential security advisor. However, his time in the former president’s trustees was short-lived.

About three years later, Gosh was arrested for plotting a coup alongside 13 other military and security top-shelf officials. After his release in 2013, he rejoined the parliament.

Gosh had also played a pivotal role in the dispute between al-Bashir and Turabi back in 1999, when he sided with Bashir.

The Bashir-Gosh partnering preceded the eventual downfall of Turabi.

Gosh's name emerged on the international scene during his close cooperation with the CIA for the handed overall-Qaeda-related information.



Crops Wither in Sudan as Power Cuts Cripple Irrigation

FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa
FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa
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Crops Wither in Sudan as Power Cuts Cripple Irrigation

FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa
FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa

Hatem Abdelhamid stands amid his once-thriving date palms in northern Sudan, helpless as a prolonged war-driven power outage cripples irrigation, causing devastating crop losses and deepening the country's food crisis.

"I've lost 70 to 75 percent of my crops this year," he said, surveying the dying palms in Tanqasi, a village on the Nile in Sudan's Northern State.

"I'm trying really hard to keep the rest of the crops alive," he told AFP.

Sudan's agricultural sector -- already battered by a two-year conflict and economic crisis -- is now facing another crushing blow from the nationwide power outages.

Since the war between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces began in April 2023, state-run power plants have been repeatedly targeted, suffering severe damage and ultimately leaving farms without water.

Like most Sudanese farms, Abdelhamid's depends on electric-powered irrigation -- but the system has been down "for over two months" due to the blackouts.

Sudan had barely recovered from the devastating 1985 drought and famine when war erupted again in 2023, delivering a fresh blow to the country's agriculture.

Agriculture remains the main source of food and income for 80 percent of the population, according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Now in its third year, the conflict has plunged more than half the population into acute food insecurity, with famine already taking hold in at least five areas and millions more at risk across conflict-hit regions in the west, center and south.

The war has also devastated infrastructure, killed tens of thousands of people, and displaced 13 million.

A 2024 joint study by the United Nations Development Programme and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) found that nearly a third of rural households have lost irrigation and water access since the war began.

Without electricity to power his irrigation system, Abdelhamid -- like thousands of farmers across the country -- was forced to rely on diesel-powered pumps.

But with fuel scarce and prices now more than 20 times higher than before the war, even that option is out of reach for many.

"I used to spend 10,000 Sudanese pounds (about four euros according to the black market rate) for irrigation each time," said another farmer, Abdelhalim Ahmed.

"Now it costs me 150,000 pounds (around 60 euros) because there is no electricity," he told AFP.

Ahmed said he has lost three consecutive harvests -- including crops like oranges, onions, tomatoes and dates.

With seeds, fertilizers and fuel now barely available, many farmers say they won't be able to replant for the next cycle.

In April, the FAO warned that "below average rainfall" and ongoing instability were closing the window to prevent further deterioration.

A June study by IFPRI also projected Sudan's overall economic output could shrink by as much as 42 percent if the war continues, with the agricultural sector contracting by more than a third.

"Our analysis shows massive income losses across all households and a sharp rise in poverty, especially in rural areas and among women," said Khalid Siddig, a senior research fellow at IFPRI.