Sudan Vows to Step up Political Cleansing

The ruling council in Sudan said vowed on Tuesday to step up its bid to remove loyalists of former president Omar Al-Bashir, a day after the prime minister of the transitional government survived  an assassination attempt.

The Sovereign Council Spokesman Mohamed Al-Faki said that a branch of security services in Sudan that was closely linked to Al-Bashir will be brought under control of the civilian government and a committee tasked with dismantling the old regime will be given additional powers.

The official announcement came as authorities launched an investigation into Monday's assassination attempt, when a blast targeted Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's convoy as he drove to work.

So far, it was not announced who was behind it, however the recent reassertion that Al-Bashir loyalists will be firmly dealt with, suggests some possible links with old regime supporters trying to disrupt a democratic transition.

Al-Bashir was overthrown last April following months of protests that denounced decades-long corruption and bad economic situation. Hamdok heads a government of technocrats serving under a 39-month power-sharing deal between civilian groups and the military that was struck last August.

The deal was signed after months of negotiations between the ruling military council and the Alliance for Freedom and Change (AFC), which has led the countrywide protest movement.

Within efforts to disempower Al-Bashir's supporters, the "dismantling" committee has already moved to disband the former ruling party and dismiss senior officials at banks and embassies, Reuters reported.

Some officers at the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) have also been dismissed, and the name of the agency has been changed to the General Intelligence Service (GIS).

Faki said on Tuesday that the part of the GIS that operates inside Sudan would be brought under the interior ministry. In mid-January, armed security agents linked to Bashir fought soldiers in Khartoum for several hours, after a dispute linked to severance packages.