BBC News > AfricSyria mission a diplomatic coup for Sudan29 December 11 00:44 GMTBy Farouk ChothiaBBC AfricaSudan's Islamist government achieved a diplomatic coup when its former military intelligence chief, Gen Mustafa al-Dabi, was appointed to head the Arab League's observer mission to Syria.Sudan is a pariah in the West, where it is accused of sponsoring terrorism - it harboured al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in the 1990s - " />