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Video duration: 31 minutes 55 seconds 31:55
The most prominent Sudanese intelligence officer, Al-Fatih Urwa, told Al-Jazeera that the Sudanese authorities deported the leader of the Hall organization, Osama bin Laden, to Afghanistan on a presidential plane. He added that they requested permission to land in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, but the plane continued its journey and landed in the city of Jalalabad in northern Afghanistan.
Al-Fatih, who served as National Security Advisor to President Omar Al-Bashir, touched on the details of Khartoum’s relationship with Osama bin Laden, and how he arrived in Sudan and then left for Afghanistan.
He spoke to the “African Stories” podcast on Al Jazeera’s “Atheer” platform, and alongside Bin Laden, in his lengthy talk (more than 5 hours), he touched on important issues that had a very important impact on the Sudanese political scene.
Such as: the deportation of Falash Jews to Israel, the revolution in Ethiopia and Eritrea, the attempted assassination of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Addis Ababa in 1995, and other Sudanese issues.
Al-Fateh stressed that he had no direct connection to the arrival of Bin Laden, an investor and company owner, to Sudan in early 1989, "but I dealt with the issues that made him enter my security files."
He said that his first meeting with the leader of Al-Qaeda was in bin Laden’s office in Jeddah. “At that time, I was in charge of the Horn of Africa file, and I was in contact with Saudi departments and intelligence, specifically Turki al-Faisal.”
Regarding the American accusations against Sudan regarding supporting “terrorist organizations,” Al-Fatih spoke about conversations that took place with American officials, including the need for Bin Laden to leave Sudanese territory.
He pointed out that the US government refused to hand over Bin Laden that day “because it had no evidence or files on him,” just as Saudi Arabia refused to receive him.
“Because he is no longer a Saudi after his citizenship was revoked.”
Al-Fateh stated that Osama bin Laden chose to go to Afghanistan instead of Somalia, after ousted President Omar al-Bashir informed him of the decision “so that neither he nor Sudan would be exposed to danger.”
Al-Fateh quoted Bin Laden as saying to Al-Bashir, “Even if you leave Sudan, the Americans will not leave you alone, and they will find other reasons for you than Bin Laden.”
Al-Fateh explained that groups affiliated with Bin Laden left Sudan on planes rented by the Sudanese government from the Republic of Latvia, while the leader of Al-Qaeda traveled on a Sudanese presidential plane towards the city of Jalalabad.
The intelligence officer said that the departure of bin Laden and his groups was a security operation, and we refused to give the Americans any details about it, and we asked them not to ask us about it afterward.
Source: Al Jazeera