Al-Jazeera correspondent in Khartoum said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the dismissal of its official spokesperson, Haidar Badawi Sadiq, for declaring his support for the normalization of relations with Israel.
And Haidar Badawi said in statements yesterday that contacts are in place between Sudan and Israel in order to normalize relations. He praised the recent agreement announced between the UAE and Israel, describing it as a "courageous and bold step."
More important than Egypt
He added that if a peace agreement was signed, Sudan would be "the most important country with which Israel would normalize, even more important than Egypt," stressing that "peace between Israel and the Arab countries helps the world to achieve international peace."
The Sudanese Foreign Ministry spokesman said that his country aspires to a normalization based on benefits for all, including Saudi Arabia, and stressed that Sudan’s decision is not in accordance with the UAE’s decision to normalize relations with Israel.
He also said, "We are not the first country to be normalized with Israel, and our relationship with the Jews is old since the time of Moses, peace be upon him. We will discuss normalization with Israel in the corridors of power in Khartoum, and we are not according to others." "Our normalization with Israel will be different and of a unique kind and not similar to other countries," he added.
He added, "Israel will benefit from Sudan, and we will benefit from it and we must deal equally. Israel will benefit from us greatly."
Official denial and Israeli welcome
Later, the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied what was stated in its spokesman’s statements, and expressed its surprise at it. The Sudanese Foreign Minister in charge, Omar Qamar al-Din, said in a press statement that the ministry “received with astonishment” Haider Badawi Sadiq's statements.
The minister added that these statements "created an ambiguous situation that needs clarification." He stressed that "the matter of relations with Israel was not discussed in the Foreign Ministry in any way, and Ambassador Haidar Badawi was not assigned to make any statements in this regard."
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the statements of the Sudanese Foreign Ministry spokesman, saying that they "reflect the courageous decision taken by the head of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, who called for work to strengthen relations between the two countries."
Netanyahu said that Israel, Sudan and the entire region would profit from the peace agreement, which would build a better future for all the peoples of the region, stressing that Israel "will do everything necessary to implement this vision on the ground."
Previous encounter
There are no diplomatic relations between Sudan and Israel, but last February, Netanyahu met with Burhan in Kampala, capital of Uganda.
Israeli officials had said after this meeting that Israel and Sudan had agreed to move towards establishing formal relations.
The head of the Israeli Mossad, Yossi Cohen, visited the Emirates on Tuesday, where he met the Emirati National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan and discussed "prospects for cooperation in the security fields," less than a week after the announcement of the agreement to normalize relations.
This is the first announced visit by an Israeli official to the UAE since US President Donald Trump announced the agreement last Thursday. The terms of the agreement will be signed at the White House within weeks.