October 22nd 2019 (Nyamilepedia) – A former Sudanese minister has defended former President Omar al-Bashir’s use of unofficial means to pay the country’s diplomats.
General Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein, a longtime ally of President al-Bashir who served in different capacities under his rule including as minister of defense, told a court in the Sudanese capital Khartoum early this week that al-Bashir’s use of unofficial channels to pay diplomat was that American banks were not allowed by the US government to conduct businesses with al-Bashir’s then Sudan.
He said al-Bashir in his capacity as head of state was responsible for disbursing diplomat’s salaries and expenditures of embassies abroad and so he had to use other means such as transporting these money in direct flights .
“Foreign relations are the President’s direct responsibility. The United States imposed a blockade on Sudan and prevented its banks from dealing with Sudanese banks in terms of bank transfers, which led the President (al-Bashir) to use a diplomatic bag and he often pays the salaries of military attaches in cash through this bag,” General Hussein told the court.
General Hussein further told the court that “there was a lot of work done by the president in this regard,” and that his disclosure of this information would harm the national security: something that was rejected by the court.
General Hussein was Secretary-General of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), the first constitutional office he held before becoming the Minister of the Presidency several times, Minister of Interior twice, Minister of Defense for nine years, Governor of Khartoum State for three years and finally Chairman of the National Investment Council (NIC) until al-Bashir’s ouster by the military in April this year.
Following months of protests over hiking living conditions, al-Bashir was ousted by the military in April this year and was immediately arrested and put on trial many believe may end in him being acquitted.
