Saudi paper: Sudan ‘likely’ to normalise relations with Israel

Sudan is “likely” to be the next Arab country to normalise relations with Israel, Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper quoted a Sudanese official as saying.

According to the source, the recent high-level talks between the US and the Sudanese government held in Abu Dhabi discussed Khartoum’s agreeing to normalise relations with Tel Aviv in return for removing it from the State Department’s list of sponsors of terrorism and a package of  $7 billion in financial assistance.

The Sudanese transitional government said earlier that the negotiations confirmed Sudan’s support for the Arab-Israeli peace agreements and considered them a path to stability in the region.

Meanwhile, sources told the paper that the US team contacted President Donald Trump and his adviser Jared Kushner several times during the talks.

The Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, met with his cabinet yesterday to discuss the outcome of the meeting.

Several members of the ruling coalition parties including the Umma Party and the Communist Party strongly oppose normalising ties with Israel.

The paper expected the Sudanese government to pay compensations to the victims of the USS Cole bombing in the Gulf of Aden, and the victims of the bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

READ: Sudan denies holding Israel normalisation talks in UAE