A published report says Sudan is secretly working with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency to spy on insurgents in Iraq.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Sudan's Mukhabarat intelligence service has inserted spies into Iraq using the flow of foreign fighters who travel through Sudan as cover.
The newspaper based its findings on interviews with current and former U.S. intelligence officials. It says the spying shows how the U.S. and Sudan are cooperating even as U.S. officials condemn Sudan for fostering violence and killings in Darfur.
A recent State Department report praised Sudan as a "strong partner in the war on terror," though the report made no mention of Sudan's alleged activities in Iraq.
The Times quotes Sudan's ambassador to the U.S., John Ukec Lueth Ukec, as saying recently-imposed U.S. sanctions on his country could make Khartoum less willing to cooperate on intelligence matters.
Last month, President Bush imposed economic sanctions against 31 Sudanese businesses and three individuals to protest Sudan's failure to end the Darfur crisis.
Rebels in the region began an uprising in 2003. Since then, the fighting has killed an estimated 200,000 people, and driven more than two million others from their homes.
Sudan has refused to accept a U.N. peacekeeping force in the region, and is accused of arming militias blamed for burning down villages and committing thousands of murders and rapes. Sudan denies having any link to the militias.
