The leaders of Israel and Sudan met on Monday and agreed to cooperate toward a goal of normalizing ties between the two countries, according to the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The surprise two-hour meeting between Netanyahu and Lieutenant General Sudan Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of Sudan’s sovereign council, came at the end of a visit by the Israeli leader to Entebbe, Uganda, to meet with that nation’s leaders.
It could further Sudan’s efforts to get the US to take it off its list of state sponsors of terrorism as the country edges toward democracy after its longtime leader was ousted from power last year.
Photo: EPA-EFE
It could also help Netanyahu’s reelection bid, giving him a diplomatic victory ahead of a national ballot on March 2.
US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo welcomed the meeting and “thanked General al-Burhan for his leadership in normalizing ties with Israel,” the US Department of State said in a statement.
The government of Sudan was not notified or consulted on the meeting between the two, the state-run Sudan News Agency reported, citing Sudanese Minister of Information and Broadcasting Faisal Saleh.
Officials would wait for “clarifications” on al-Burhan’s return, Salih said in a later statement.
The two nations are moving to boost relations more than four decades after Netanyahu’s brother, Yonatan Netanyahu, was killed in an operation that rescued Israeli hostages, whose plane was forced to Entebbe International Airport by Palestinian hijackers.
Israel and Uganda discussed opening of embassies in their countries, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said on Twitter without revealing if his government would open its Israeli embassy in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.
The two countries are already cooperating in sectors including agriculture, security, health, and communication information and technology, Museveni said.
Netanyahu proposed commencement of flights between Tel Aviv and Entebbe, he said.
No government of the Muslim-majority Sudan since its independence in 1956 has recognized Israel, while Israeli officials had previously identified Sudan as a conduit for Iranian weapons bound for Israel’s enemies.
Netanyahu is playing up his diplomatic prowess ahead of next month’s vote, with visits last week with US President Donald Trump for the unveiling of his Mideast peace plan — and to see Russian President Vladimir Putin, where he brought home an Israeli woman who had been imprisoned in Russia.
Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat called al-Burhan’s meeting with Netanyahu “a stab in the back of the Palestinian people and a flagrant walkout on the Arab peace initiative,” according to a statement published by the official PalestineNews Agency.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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