Normalization with Israel: US shows signs of impatience with Sudan
Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.
REUTERS / Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
Normalization with Israel, desired by the United States before next November, the date of the presidential election, does not materialize in Sudan.
Neither US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Khartoum last August, nor Abu Dhabi's talks last week with US officials have proven to be fruitful.
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The Sudanese authorities say they are subject to strong Saudi and Emirati pressure to accept normalization with Israel, but Khartoum resists, and opposes its reasons.
Sudan failed to obtain the urgently requested $ 2 billion in aid to save the country from economic collapse.
Discussions have therefore been put on the brakes.
Abdallah Hamdok's provisional government prefers to play for time.
Not having been elected, he cannot face the popular protest against normalization with Israel.
"
I am not mandated by the population to take a decision of such importance,
" the Sudanese Prime Minister had informed Mike Pompeo, last August already.
Sudan confronted with a fait accompli
The Sudanese authorities also have the feeling of being faced with a fait accompli.
The desired normalization with Israel was not among the conditions demanded of Sudan to remove its name from the blacklist.
It was added to it after Khartoum accepted all American demands, such as political reforms and multi-million dollar compensation for victims of the attacks in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam in 1998, as well as that of
the USS Cole off Yemen in 2000.
If the Sudanese Sovereign Council appears divided on the issue, and the soldiers within this Council seem to be favorable to Israel, the most important political formations, for their part, reject this normalization.
Sadek al Mahdi, the leader of the Umma party, said he refused "
this submission and this injustice which has nothing to do with peace
".
The country's highest religious authority has banned normalization with Tel Aviv in a fatwa.
Only three small formations are in favor, including the minor branch led by Fadel al Mahdi, of the Umma party.
► See also: The United States pushes Sudan to normalize its relations with Israel
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Sudan
Israel
United States
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