Free article preview

Air strikes and silence

Why was Khartoum so reluctant to admit that its arms transhipments had been hit by Israeli air strikes?

Khartoum said nothing about Israel's air strikes on north-east Sudan in January and February until the news leaked out through an Egyptian newspaper last week. It then blamed them on the United States though, we hear, it knew Israel was responsible. In all three raids, the targets were shipments of weapons to Gaza's ruling Islamist party, Hamas - two road convoys in Sudan, one still at sea. Khartoum's reluctance to admit that it had been hit by Israel contrasts sharply with its regular and ritual denunciations of the 'Zionist regime', which it increasingly says it blames for the Darfur crisis. As Africa Confidential went to press, we heard that another arms convoy was moving north near the Red Sea coast and Egyptian forces were moving to the Sudan border to block such movements....

(This article contains approximately 1201 words)

end of free article preview

Current subscribers: log in now to read the complete article. Misplaced your password? Then click here for a password reminder.

Not a subscriber? Then you can read this article in full either by becoming a subscriber now, for 3, 6 or 12 months, or you can buy this individual article.

Subscribe to Africa Confidential:
Buy this article:

3-month subscription
Prices from £205.00 (+ VAT where applicable)

6-month subscription
Prices from £376.00 (+ VAT where applicable)

12-month subscription
Prices from £705.00 (+ VAT where applicable)
UK & European Union
£17.00 (+ VAT where applicable)

Rest of the world
$27.00

If you have a print subscription already, click here for a password that gives you full access to the website.
If you are logged in, but still cannot access the full text of this article, email customer services or telephone us on +44(0)1638 743633.

Africa Confidential's reporting and analysis is valued by a wide range of organisations and individuals: from corporate executives, country risk analysts, national politicians and members of the diplomatic corps, to intelligence operatives, academics, journalists and NGO personnel.

Here's what our readers say about us:

"We regard Africa Confidential as one of our best and most reliable sources of information and analysis."

Intelligence Assessment Service, Privy Council Office, Government of Canada

"You are the best reporter on Africa alive. I look forward to your Intel."

Robert Stewart, CEO, Hawk Uranium Inc., USA

"If you want the detail and you want the dirt, the little blue newsletter [Africa Confidential] that drops through your letter box is like having your own private spook who knows Africa inside out and who's also one hell of a gossip."

Jonathan Miller, Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Channel 4 News, London, UK

"Since the demise of reporting on Africa in Western newspapers, and especially in the UK, in recent years, Africa Confidential has become ever more indispensable to anyone trying to make sense of the continent.

It provides the context one needs to understand vast changes Sudan has undergone since the signing of the peace agreement in 2005 and the explosion of conflict in Darfur.

The scope of its coverage of everything from the latest mining deals and rebel uprisings in the Democratic Republic of Congo to the political crisis in Kenya since the 2007 election is simply unparalleled."

Karl Maier, Africa & Middle East Editor, Bloomberg News

Free article preview

Air strikes and silence

Why was Khartoum so reluctant to admit that its arms transhipments had been hit by Israeli air strikes?

end of free article preview

articles by country