The Bush administration has forged a close intelligence partnership with Sudan, which has helped Washington's war on terrorism, the Los Angeles Times reported on Friday, citing government and intelligence officials. Sudan, which once welcomed Osama bin Laden, has provided access to terrorism suspects and shared intelligence data with the United States, even though it remains on the US list of state sponsors of terrorism, and has come in for harsh criticism for human rights violations.
The Times said US government officials had confirmed that the CIA flew the chief of Sudan's intelligence agency to Washington last week for secret meetings, sealing Khartoum's sensitive and previously veiled partnership with the administration.
The newspaper said Sudan had detained al Qaeda suspects for interrogation by US agents, given the FBI evidence seized from raids on homes of suspected terrorists, handed over extremists to Arab intelligence agencies and foiled terrorist attacks against US targets.
The paper cited interviews with American and Sudanese intelligence and government officials.
Sudan has "given us specific information that is ... important, functional and current," said a senior US State Department official speaking on condition of anonymity.
The chief of Sudan's Mukhabarat intelligence agency, Major General Salah Abdallah Gosh, told the Times: "We have a strong partnership with the CIA. The information we have provided has been very useful to the United States."
Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail acknowledged in an interview that the Mukhabarat already had served as the eyes and ears of the CIA in neighbouring countries, including Somalia, a sanctuary for Islamic militants.