Sudan/Malaysia: Activities of the National Democratic Alliance of Sudan (NDA) and/or the Umma Party in Malaysia; presence and activities of Sudanese authorities in Malaysia in relation to Sudanese opposition parties (1995 - October 1999)

In a 25 October 1999 telephone interview a representative of the Umma Party office in the U.K. stated that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), of which the Umma Party is a member, is active in Malaysia. However, he could not say in what part of the country its activities were focused and suggested contacting the NDA representative in Malaysia. He said that this representative is a student at the University of Putra in Selangor and has been there for more than two years. He also stated that Sudan maintains an embassy in Kuala Lumpur and that it is "notorious" for raising funds for military purchases on the basis of Muslim sympathies. When asked about its interaction with the Sudanese community the Umma Party representative claimed that it "watches the community closely" and volunteered an e-mail message he had received from the NDA's representative in Malaysia. The message states in part:

…here we just do print out and distribute the articles to the members and some individuals. We face the harassment of the NIFers and their allies , as they are very worried about the activities of the opposition which are growing fast within the critical conditions of the NIFers who created to control such works, this was culminated by the secret visit of Gutbi el-Mahdi during Eid al-Fitr, as a high security work.

We reformed our office here in a conference attended by all Umma members here last week and set good plans to activate our works (3 Jan. 1999).

The Umma Party representative for the U.K was unable to provide any additional information on the activities of party members in Malaysia.

Several sources report that there is a Sudanese embassy located in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysian Export Mag n.d.; DPA 2 Oct. 1997; Voice of Sudan 2 Oct. 1997). A man by the name of Ahmed Abdel Aziz Khattab, identified as an "administrative attaché" to the Sudanese embassy in Kuala Lumpur was reported in October 1997 to have resigned his post at the embassy and joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) (ibid.; DPA 2 Oct. 1997; AFP 1 Oct. 1997). The NDA was reported to have said in a statement that he then asked for political asylum in the Netherlands, but declined to state where he was at the time of the statement (ibid.; DPA 2 Oct. 1997). The NDA also alleged that the Sudanese embassy in Malaysia was involved in raising funds "from Islamic charity groups" for arms purchases, and in arranging arms deals with Asian countries (ibid.; AFP 1 Oct. 1997). DPA reported that the Sudanese embassy had issued a statement indicating that they had no information concerning a resignation by Khattab and that he was a clerical worker and not a diplomat (2 Oct. 1997). "The Sudanese embassy said that Khattab applied for transfer because of his inefficiency, lack of experience and the difficulty of working abroad" (ibid.).

In a copy of Khattab's statement, obtained from the Website of ViTrade, "an international research and financial risk analysis company," he claims that: "all visits of NIF leadership and their emissaries to Malaysia since 1996 have been designed basically to obtain money to procure weapons of destruction" (29 Sept. 1997).

In a 21 July 1997 MENA article, the NDA was reported to have "appealed to the governments of Indonesia and Malaysia not to conclude any commercial deals with, or supply weapons and military hardware to" the Sudanese government.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Agence France Presse (AFP). 1 October 1997. "Sudanese Opposition Says Diplomat has Joined it." (NEXIS)

Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA). 2 October 1997. "Sudan Embassy Says Alleged Defector Left Malaysia." (NEXIS)

Khattab, Abdelaziz Ahmed Abdelaziz Khattab, former Administrative Attache to the Sudanese Embassy in Malaysia. 29 September 1997. Statement. [Accessed 25 Oct. 1999]

MENA [Cairo, in Arabic]. 21 July 1997. "Opposition Claims Chemical Weapons Factory Built Near Khartoum." (NEXIS)

Umma Party. 3 January 1999. Correspondence from Umma Malaysia representative to Umma U.K. representative.

Voice of Sudan [in Arabic]. 2 October 1997. "Diplomat Resigns, Accuses Government of Arms Deals - Opposition Radio." (NEXIS)