Sudanese FM denies knowledge of peace talks with Zionist regime

Sudan’s acting foreign minister on Tuesday night denied knowledge of peace talks with Zionist regime, and said a government spokesman who announced an impending normalization agreement was not authorized to comment on the issue.

In a press statement, Omar Qamar al-Din Ismail, who entered the transitional office in July, said the government was “surprised” by the claim by his spokesman that Khartoum and Tel- Aviv were edging toward reconciliation.

“The Foreign Ministry was surprised to see the statements of Ambassador Haider Badawi Sadiq, the ministry’s spokesman, about Sudan’s attempt to establish relations with Israel. These statements have created an ambiguous situation that needs clarification,” the statement said.

 “The matter of relations with Israel has not been discussed in the Foreign Ministry at all. No one tasked Haidar Badawi Sadiq with making statements on this matter,” Ismail added.

Sadiq told Sky News Arabia earlier on Tuesday that Sudan “aspires towards a peace agreement with Israel… a relationship of equals built upon Khartoum’s interests,” in a statement hailed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“There’s no reason for the enmity to continue,” Sadiq said. “We do not deny the communication between the two countries.”

“Both Sudan and Israel will benefit from such an agreement if it is signed, at the end of this year or the beginning of next year,” he continued, referring to Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen’s prediction of a Sudan-Israel agreement by the end of 2020. Sadiq also praised the agreement to normalize ties between the United Arab Emirates and Israel as “courageous.”

Sadiq later clarified that he confirmed talks with Israel because no senior government officials had bothered to deny Cohen’s prediction.

“The fact that no Sudanese official came out to deny what the Israeli intelligence chief said made me conclude that the normalization line is the one that the state is taking,” he tweeted. “On this I built my statements, which the Ministry denied in its brief statement.”

His original comments came hours after Sadiq penned a blog on a Sudanese news site in which he urged the government and transitional leadership to open up about its talks with Zionist regime.

“Respect your people and tell them what’s going on in secret about relations with Israel,” he wrote, noting that he had decided to speak as a private citizen and shed flowery diplomatic language in the name of free speech.

A Sudanese government official told The Associated Press that deliberations between Sudanese and Israeli officials have been going on for months, with help from Egypt, the UAE and the US.

The reports came days after Israel and the UAE announced they would establish ties.

While Sudan does not have the resources and influence of the UAE, it has a far more hostile history toward Zionist regime.

Sudan hosted the landmark Arab conference after the 1967 Six Day War where eight Arab countries approved the “three no’s”: no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel and no negotiations.

In 1993, the US designated Sudan a state sponsor of terrorism, in part for its support of a number of anti-Israel groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah.

Sudan, a Muslim-majority African country, is on a fragile path to democracy after a popular uprising led the military to overthrow former autocratic president Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. A military-civilian government now rules the country, with elections possible in late 2022.

Thursday’s surprise statement set off speculation over which Arab nation will be next, with attention focused on Bahrain, Oman and Sudan. On Monday, Oman and Israel said their foreign ministers had spoken and, according to Israel, agreed to “maintain direct and continual contact.”

Zionist regime’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday night said Minister Gabi Ashkenazi spoke to five of his counterparts in the Arab world, but did not name the other three, apart from UAE and Oman.

For Zionist regime, Saudi Arabia — which still has not commented publicly on the UAE’s decision — would be the ultimate prize. Senior White House Adviser Jared Kushner has predicted the kingdom will eventually agree to relations with Zionist regime.