Last month, Act for Sudan sent a letter to Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, to express their concern over the acceptance in the United States of Sudan’s former Director of National Intelligence and Security Service (2009-2018), Mohammed Atta al-Moula as the new Charge d’Affaires at the Sudan Embassy in Washington, DC.
Excerpt from this letter:
For an Administration that is committed to keeping terrorists out of the United States, it is difficult to fathom why the State Department would issue a visa to Mohammed Atta al-Moula, the recent former head of Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), the arm of the Sudan regime that carries out the crimes of the regime and controls the country through violent oppression. Atta is now the Chargé d’Affaires for the Sudan Embassy in Washington, DC. While U.S. agencies may think they will have more direct access to the intelligence they seek, the U.S. is also giving a leader of worldwide intelligence networks, including terrorist networks, direct access to the United States of America. Atta is a serious national security threat.
Their tweet sent in August:
.@SecPompeo Fmr NISS Dir. Mohammed Atta al-Moula's crimes in #Sudan make him a national security risk and ineligible for US visa. #ExpelAtta @realDonaldTrump @VP @StateDept @SecNielsen @nikkihaley @McFaul @BennieGThompson @SenRonJohnson @SenateHSGACDems https://t.co/9FW5zVifg2
— Act For Sudan (@actforsudan) August 28, 2018
A month later, the organization says the United States must expel Mohammed Atta, the Chargé d’affaires at the Sudan Embassy in Washington. As the former Director of NISS, he was responsible for organizing and executing serious crimes against the Sudanese people. Atta should be ineligible to be in the U.S., and his connections with terrorist organizations make him a U.S. national security risk.
Attention @SecPompeo @SenateHSGACDems @NatSecCNN fmr NISS Dir. Mohammed Atta al-Moula serves as #Sudan’s top diplomat in DC yet crimes make him a #nationalsecurityrisk and ineligible for US visa. #ExpelAtta @VP @StateDept @SecNielsen @nikkihaley @McFaul @SenRonJohnson pic.twitter.com/f5eIvihJEE
— Act For Sudan (@actforsudan) September 26, 2018
We can read on Act for Sudan website:
Atta’s presence in the U.S. is not only an affront to the victims of NISS torture who have sought refugee asylum here, but also a national security risk for the U.S. due to Atta’s extensive connections with terrorist networks. By law, Atta should have been denied a U.S. visa because of his involvement in serious crimes, such as genocide, acts of torture, and severe violations of religious freedom.
A situation we addressed in our Interview Series: Sudan. Esther Sprague, founder of Sudan Unlimited, expressed her concern as well on this so-called ‘cooperation’ and the normalization of U.S.-Sudanese ties:
It is hard for the Sudanese that I talk with to understand these polices of Europe and the U.S. In the past, both have been strong allies of the people of Sudan in their efforts to secure freedom, equal citizenship and a just peace. It does not make sense to Sudanese for the E.U. to provide resources that benefit the regime or for the U.S. to open up opportunities for the regime. Not only does the Sudan regime openly violates the values of the E.U. and U.S., but its support and engagement with terrorist organizations and its destabilizing influence in the region, such as in South Sudan and the Central African Republic, present security risks for the E.U. and U.S.
You can help raise the alarm with the Administration, including Homeland Security and the related Congressional Committees, by taking one or all of the actions listed on this page. We retweeted Act for Sudan and you can also take action on Twitter, Facebook and by calling Congressman Michael McCaul, former Sudan Caucus Co-Chair and current Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security.
