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Los Angeles Times
September 30, 1998
Metro; Part B; Page 7; Op Ed Desk

PERSPECTIVE ON TERRORISM;
OLIVE BRANCH IGNORED;

MANSOOR IJAZ

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One such effort at private citizen diplomacy resulted in a meaningful counterterrorism offer from Sudan's militant Islamic government to U.S. authorities in April 1997, an offer which, if acted on in a timely manner, could have prevented potential Sudanese chemical weapons malfeasance from taking root, checked U.S. military assets from being deployed without more credible evidence of wrongdoing and possibly reduced the threat we Americans now face from an even more angry Islamic radical fringe.

In April 1997, I hand carried the offer from President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir, Sudan's military strongman, to Rep. Lee Hamilton of Indiana, ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee. In the letter, which is now part of the Congressional Record, Bashir stated, "We extend an offer to the FBl's counterterrorism units and any other official delegations . . . to come to the Sudan and work with our External Intelligence Department in order to assess the data in our possession and help us counter the forces your government and ours seek to contain."

The reasoning behind my approach to Bashir was simple: If Sudan was genuinely not harboring terrorists or fomenting radicalism after its decision in 1996 to expel Osama bin Laden, the alleged Saudi mastermind of the Tanzanian and Kenyan bombings, the only way to prove Khartoum's complicity or innocence was to invite America's premier institutions that fight global terrorism into the country to have an unobstructed look.

(snip)

The Sudanese were willing to explore rapprochement through me because of my sensitivities to Islam enveloped in a deeply rooted commitment to American ideals. Such sentiments were relayed to President Clinton in an August 1996 "olive branch" letter from Sudan's ideological leader, Hassan Turabi.

The counterterrorism offer was a factor in last October's decision by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to order U.S. diplomats back into Sudan after an 18-month hiatus based on security concerns--a decision that was reversed three days later when National Security Advisor Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger and Defense Secretary William Cohen presented evidence alleging Sudanese malfeasance in chemical warfare agents--evidence they have now admitted was inconclusive and circumstantial.

(snip)