S
udanese intelligence chief Salah Gosh held secret talks with the head of Mossad in Germany
last month as part of a plot hatched by Israel's Gulf allies to elevate him to the presidency when Omar al-Bashir is toppled from power, a senior Sudanese military source has told Middle East Eye.
Gosh, t
he head of Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), met Yossi Cohen on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in a meeting arranged by Egyptian intermediaries with the backing of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the source said.
Sudanese protesters remain defiant despite increased government crackdown
The Saudis, the Emiratis and the Egyptians see Gosh as "their man," the source said, in a behind-the-scenes power struggle now taking place in Khartoum after months of anti-government protests that many now see as the beginning of the end of Bashir''s three-decade rule.
"There is a consensus that Bashir will go within the ruling party and the army. The battle is about who is coming after," said the source.
"Gosh has strong links with the Saudis, the Emiratis and the Egyptians. They want Bashir out, and they want their man in his place."
A spokesperson for the Munich Security Conference confirmed that both Gosh and Cohen had attended this year's event, which took place 15-17 February. Another diplomatic source spoken to by MEE corroborated details of the meeting.
Gosh also met European intelligence chiefs, the head of the Common Media Center, which is close to the Sudanese government, told MEE.