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Sudan leadership divided over whether to normalise ties with Israel

September 21, 2020 at 11:14 am

President of Sudan’s Transitional Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (C) in Entebbe on November 7, 2019 [MICHAEL O’HAGAN/AFP via Getty Images]

The military leaders in Sudan’s Sovereign Council, which comprises both civilians and military officers, are interested in normalising the country’s relations with Israel in return for the lifting of US sanctions on the country and removing it from the list states that sponsor terrorists, Arabi21 reported.

Observers told the London-based website that there are major disagreements within the country’s transitional Sovereign Council over the question of whether to normalise relations with Israel.

Last February, the transitional council’s chair, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the latter announced the two sides are cooperating toward reaching an agreement on the normalisation of bilateral ties.

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But in August Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok told the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that the Sovereign Council had “no mandate” to take such a step.

Hamdok also called on the US not to link “the subject of lifting Sudan from the state sponsors of terrorism list and the subject of normalisation with Israel.”

According to a number of media reports, Saudi and Emirati politicians are pressuring Khartoum to normalise its relations with Israel.

The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have recently normalised relations with Israel, signing agreements with the occupation state last week.