Dr Harry Verhoeven comments on high profile arrests in Sudan

Harry Verhoeven was quoted in a Reuters article (22 November) on the arrest of a former spy chief and other senior military and security officers on Thursday, after what Sudanese officials have described as a plot to incite chaos and target leaders.

Harry said the arrests' timing suggested the incident was connected to a conference of Sudan's Islamic Movement last weekend that illustrated these tensions. The Islamic Movement is a part of Sudan's ruling establishment that counts many of the country's most powerful politicians as members. Analysts say reform-minded members of the group were unhappy with the new secretary-general elected at the conference.

The arrest of Gosh - who is not seen as overly close with the Islamists - may have been a signal to the reformists that authorities would not tolerate serious dissent, Verhoeven said.

"I think the key question is what the reformists do. Do they form a new party? Do they stay quiet?" he added.

The full article can be read here.

Dr Harry Verhoeven is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Politics and International Relations, and Convenor of the Oxford University China-Africa Network.