In February 2009, the head of the Sudanese Liberation Movement arrived
in Israel and met with government representatives. The sources said Abdul
Wahid Al Nour arrived in Israel and met Defense Ministry political-military
bureau director Amos Gilad, regarded as the top envoy of Defense Minister
Ehud Barak.
Al Nour also attended the annual strategic Herzliya Conference. He did
not address the gathering.
"The leader of one of the rebel groups in Sudan's Darfour region visited
Israel to request its support in the rebel fight against the Sudanese
government," the Israeli daily Haaretz said.
Al Nour was also said to have met senior officials of Israel's Mossad
espionage agency, including director Meir Dagan. The Mossad had been
assigned to track Hamas weapons convoys through Sudan.
The Sudanese Liberation Movement, founded in 1992, has been fighting the
Khartoum regime in Darfour since 2001. Six year later, Al Nour fled to
France and began organizing support in Europe for the rebellion.
At least 600 Darfour residents have fled Sudan and settled in Israel.
The government has granted them asylum and the right to work in Israel.
The sources said Israel has long maintained relations with rebel groups
in Sudan. But until a few years ago those relations were limited to non-Arab
forces in southern Sudan that had waged a 20-year war for independence.
"In the interests of national security, various meetings are
held," the Defense Ministry said after the Al Nour-Gilad meeting. "We are
not in the habit of responding after each of these meetings."