Sudan security service denies travel ban on top politicians

At least 11 officials were affected, senior government sources say

The headquarters of Sudan's Directorate of General Intelligence Service, in the Riyadh district of the capital Khartoum. AFP

Sudan's General Intelligence Service has denied media reports that it banned state officials from travelling abroad.

“The agency confirms that it is working in accordance with its duties as stipulated in the constitutional document, and stresses that this is not within its powers,” the security service said in a statement quoted by the news agency.

The statement followed reports of Sudan's security service imposing a travel ban on members of a task force overseeing the country's transition to democracy, government sources say.

Two senior civilian government sources told Reuters the GIS travel ban affected 11 civilian officials, most of them members of the committee responsible for dismantling Omar Al Bashir's financial and political legacy.

The ban comes as tensions between civilian and military leaders threaten to boil over, weeks after a failed coup.

The political crisis erupted on September 21, when Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said rogue troops still loyal to Al Bashir sought to derail by force the revolution that ousted the former president in 2019.

The sources said the list included Mohamed Al Faki, who last month accused the military of using the failed coup as an excuse to try to seize power.

Mr Al Faki is also part of the ruling Sovereign Council, on which both civilian and military officials sit, and which has run Sudan since Al Bashir's overthrow.

Since the coup attempt, military leaders have withdrawn protection for the task force and demanded changes to the civilian coalition with which they share power.

“Who said we want to leave this country for them to ban us!” committee member Wagdi Salih, who sources said was also on the list, wrote on Twitter.

The sources said the ban was illegal as it originated from the GIS rather than the public prosecutor's office and that the cabinet — which sits below the Sovereign Council — was pressing for an investigation.

The ban came to light after another person on the task force, businessman Salah Manaa, managed to board a flight to Cairo, sources said.