Mohammed Al-Minshawi-Washington

A US news website has revealed that the UAE is using a pressure company to pressure Washington to support the Dubai Ports Company’s plan to acquire a Sudanese port, which recalls the political controversy that occurred in the middle of the past decade of the UAE company winning a contract to manage six American ports.

The announcement of the Dubai Ports acquisition deal - which is owned by the Dubai government - on six American ports was met with a rejection by the Republicans and Democrats in both houses of Congress for this deal, and the UAE lobby was unable to deal with this situation or change it.

Congress blocked this deal against the background of the national security pretext, given that the company that will manage American ports coming from a Middle Eastern Arab country was involved in the attacks of September 11, 2001, among the 19 perpetrators of the attacks were citizens of the UAE.

The deal at the time included the concession to operate the ports of New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Tampa and New Orleans, but the DP company had to back down and liquidate its business within the United States.

After that painful experience of the Emirati company in the American market, it returns to the Department of Interest in Washington to reveal its plan to acquire Port Sudan, the largest Sudanese port.

Emirati efforts
The American "Monitor" website revealed Emirati efforts in which it hired a former Israeli intelligence official to pressure the American administration to support the Dubai Ports Company's plan to acquire Port Sudan for 20 years.

The report adds that the Dubai Ports Company contracted with "Dickens and Madison" for pressure and public relations for a value of five million dollars, and the company is headed by former Israeli intelligence officer Ari Ben Menashe.

The contract, of which the island obtained a copy, signed between the company - which is based in Canada - and the Dubai Ports Company, refers to several tasks, including pressure on the administration of US President Donald Trump to obtain a government grant to help maintain and develop the port that deals With most of Sudan's imports and exports.

American grant
And the website "Monitor" quoted the former Israeli officer as saying that he had made progress in obtaining the American grant, and that could be soon, adding that Dubai ports were actually monitoring the port during the rule of the ousted President Omar al-Bashir.

Ben Menashe added that he has deep relations with Sudanese officials thanks to the agreement he signed with the Transitional Military Council worth $ 6 million to facilitate his obtaining diplomatic recognition and funding.

The Sudanese Military Council had signed a contract last summer with the Canadian company itself, and the contract - of which Al-Jazeera Net obtained a copy - was signed by Lieutenant-General Muhammad Hamdan Diqlo, known as Hamidati, Vice-Chairman of the Military Council.

Improve the image
The contract included the Bin Menashe Company providing several services, including improving the image of the Military Council of the United States, the international community, United Nations organizations, and the African Union, to obtain diplomatic recognition of its legitimacy.

The Canadian company is also making efforts to serve the partners and allies of the UAE in the Arab region within the American capital, Washington. The company has previously cooperated with retired Libyan general Khalifa Haftar and the Tunisian candidate for the presidency, Nabil Karoui.

It is worth noting that Sudan's ports have become a target for regional competitions after Turkey signed an agreement with the Al-Bashir regime in the year 2017 to manage and develop Sawakin Island, which is close to Port Sudan.

Sudan's Prime Minister visited Washington last month and met US officials (Anatolia)

Visit Hamdok
Last month, Washington witnessed the first visit of its kind to a Sudanese head of government since 1985, when Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdock met US officials to discuss bilateral files between Khartoum and Washington.

Hamdock’s visit comes in light of the continued political dilemma facing the Khartoum authorities, which is the country’s survival on the American list of state sponsors of terrorism, as the new Sudanese government tries to push Washington to remove the country from this list, which impedes the normalization of relations between the two countries, and stands a barrier to receiving Sudan for a lot of international aid.

A former American diplomat told Al-Jazeera Net that "the UAE, its influence and relations within Washington may be one of the Sudanese government's means of removing it from the American list of terrorism-sponsoring countries, and Sudan's ports may be the price that Khartoum pays for that service."