Director of Egyptian Intelligence in Khartoum .. What is behind closed doors?

Muzdalifah Muhammad Othman - Khartoum

Not long after the Security Council announced the joint defense in Sudan, the government intended to use "friends" to dismantle the mystery of the failed assassination attempt against Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdouk, except that a special plane carrying the Director of Egyptian Intelligence, Major General Abbas Kamel, landed.

Immediately, the Egyptian official was involved in talks that included the president of the Transitional Sovereign Council, Abd al-Fattah al-Burhan, Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdouk, and Muhammad Hamdan Hamidati, deputy chairman of the sovereign council, separately.

Kamel conveyed a message from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to Al-Burhan, affirming that "Egypt stands and solidarity with the transitional government and the Sudanese people in facing the terrorist attempt that the Prime Minister was exposed to, and its support for the stability of Sudan."

According to the statement of Sudanese Intelligence Director, Lieutenant General Jamal Abdel Majeed, on Monday evening, "The Egyptian Intelligence Director's meeting with the President and First Deputy President of the Sovereign Council discussed a number of issues of mutual concern and the need for coordination in regional and international forums."

Previous arrest
Security officials who spoke to Al-Jazeera Net confirmed that there is a close link between Kamel's surprise visit to Khartoum and the bombing incident that targeted the Prime Minister's convoy, especially that the Sudanese authorities announced last month the arrest of members of a "terrorist" cell that it said belonged to the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood while preparing its elements with explosive devices in One of the houses in the suburb of Haji Yusef, east of the capital. The cell consists of Egyptians, Syrians, Turks and Sudanese.

According to press reports, the security forces arrested 8 Egyptians, including an explosives expert, and the cell's plan was to carry out assassinations of some officials and leaders of political parties.

After the announcement of the assassination attempt on Hamdok, police sources said that the security services arrested two foreigners and subjected them to investigation against the background of the explosion.

According to information obtained by Al-Jazeera Net, one of the detainees is Egyptian, while the other is a Syrian who lives near the site of the explosion, and his car was standing near the vehicle that was completely damaged by the explosion, and the release of the two men was confirmed after investigation.

The Sudanese Police Presidency said in the latest statement on Tuesday evening, "The material used in the detonation was an explosive device weighing 750 grams, which was planted on both sides of the road. 90 cm wide, 65 cm wide and 25 cm deep.

This announcement reinforces the hypothesis of the relationship between the arrested cell that was making the explosives locally and the attempt to target the Prime Minister's convoy.

New Khartoum Test
Political analyst Abdullah Rizk believes that the matter of the seized cell in "Hajj Youssef" last month concerned Cairo primarily, so the visit of the intelligence director to Khartoum came, especially with the knowledge of Cairo that the previous regime was hosting the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and providing them with support and facilitate their movement, and thus their hostile activity Who is going on inside Egypt.

Rizk says to Al Jazeera Net, "It was later announced that the cell was planning to carry out bombings and assassinations targeting among others Abdullah Hamdouk, so the attempt that targeted the man on Monday brings to mind the possibility of direct elements that have not yet been arrested in the implementation of the plan."

"Of course, Egypt is interested in seeing the Sudanese side's information, whether the effects of the accident will extend to Egypt, and whether there are Egyptians involved in it, and most importantly, the extent of the commitment of the new government in Sudan to expel the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood members from Sudan and not harbor them and hand over those who request it." Egypt, in addition to bilateral cooperation in combating terrorism and controlling the common borders of the two countries. "

And those demands - as Rizk says - were always placed by Cairo at the table of the Bashir government and find nothing but procrastination in implementation, so they seek from time to time to test the extent of change in Khartoum's policy towards playing a more positive role in the context of the relationship with Cairo.

He says, "The visit of the Egyptian intelligence official, in addition to the aforementioned, involves an attempt to explore new opportunities for bilateral cooperation in combating terrorism, against the background that the two countries are facing the same enemy, which requires the closest possible coordination between them."

Accumulated files
In view of what is popular in the political and media circles about the Egyptian intelligence relationship with the file of the relationship with Sudan for a long time, the visit of the Egyptian security official cannot be limited to one issue.

There are other files no less important from the point of view of the Egyptian national security, which must be discussed with Khartoum, at the forefront of which is the issue of the Renaissance Dam, and its latest developments, which have produced a new position for Sudan that departs from the Egyptian position, which Cairo mobilized to support the Arab League.

This is exactly what the journalist and writer Mohamed Hamid Jumah sees, as it is believed that Major General Abbas Kamel’s visit to Khartoum is closely related to the file of the Renaissance Dam, and that it was scheduled within the outputs of the meeting of the Egyptian High Committee for the Renaissance Dam consisting of the Prime Minister and the security and foreign services.

Jumah believes that President Sisi decided to send his secrets, his former director of office, and his intelligence chief to Khartoum, to speak with the transitional authority and specifically the military component, adding, "I do not think that the visit of Major General Kamel was called to by the Monday incident."

He says, "What is certain is that the Al-Nahda Dam file was a priority for clarification or treatment, especially after Cairo sensed transformations that did not seem comfortable in the diplomatic position of Khartoum from the reality of what appeared in the Arab League meetings, and coincidentally coincided with the visit, the Hamdok incident, which may have added discussions. Serious with the Sudanese government on the necessity of military control and control.