2020: The year Sudan ended its isolation and looked to peace with Israel
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo flew directly to Sudan from Israel in August.
By SETH J. FRANTZMANA Sudanese protester carries their national flag as they march in a demonstration to mark the anniversary of a transitional power-sharing deal with demands for quicker political reforms in Khartoum, Sudan August 17, 2020(photo credit: REUTERS/MOHAMED NURELDIN ABDALLAH)Sudan, isolated for many years by the policies of its previous government, is opening a new chapter in its history, typified by its pending relations with Israel, according to an article at Al-Ain media in the United Arab Emirates.Sudan moved rapidly toward establishing ties with Israel in late October after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Lt.-Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, chairman of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan, in February. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo flew directly to Sudan from Israel in August.The Sudan experience has been overshadowed in Israel by the resumption of relations with Morocco and the new Gulf ties. Some 50,000 Israelis have flown to Dubai since November 26. Few Israelis have been to Sudan.The article in Al-Ain looks at how Sudan’s relationship with Israel and the world is changing. Sudan has much to gain from diplomatic ties with Israel, according to the report. “The peace agreement that Sudan reached with Israel... was an exceptional event that dominated the scene during the past year,” the report said.“The Sudanese-Israeli peace agreement is an extension of bold steps led by the United Arab Emirates ... by a historic treaty... which laid the foundation for stability in the region, while preserving the rights of Palestinians to freeze annexation,” the article says. Those involved in the peace discussions spoke to Al-Ain and they believe that for Sudan “peace with Israel is one of the most promising events of the year that is about to end, as it ends decades of international isolation surrounding the country due to the practices of the former Brotherhood regime.”The Muslim Brotherhood ran Sudan for decades under the tyrannical rule of Omar al-Bashir who the new government agreed to hand over to the International Criminal Court to be investigated on charges of genocide. Prior to being pushed from power in 2019 he was conducting outreach to Turkey, which is also run by the Brotherhood-linked AKP party. “The Sudanese-Israeli peace steps began in early February, following a meeting between the chairman of the Sovereignty Council, Lieutenant-General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Ugandan city of Entebbe, which laid the foundation for establishing relations between the two countries,” the report said. “Despite the controversy caused by this meeting and the emergence of groups opposing these moves, peace between Khartoum and Tel Aviv [sic] became part of the general mood in Sudan and won the support of large sectors, which encouraged the leadership to move forward towards reconciliation, according to observers.”The article uses the term Tel Aviv throughout as a reference to Israel’s capital, indicating that the online news media does not recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Despite peace in the region, that is another step yet to be taken.FOR SUDAN it was important to be freed of US sanctions imposed after being listed under Bashir as a country that had hosted or supported terrorists. In the 1990s, the US carried out airstrikes against an alleged al-Qaeda-linked site in Sudan. In recent decades, Sudan was accused of weapons trafficking for Iran and Hamas affiliates.“Sudanese circles expect the final peace agreement between Khartoum and Tel Aviv [sic] in Washington to be signed soon, following two military and political visits by Israeli-American delegations to Sudan, which settled the terms of the expected treaty,” the article said.These visits have not been widely reported. The article quoted political analyst Jamil al-Fadil as saying the transitional authority has made a courageous move to peace with Israel, given Sudan’s internal complications, “resulting from outdated psychological, ideological positions discarded by the Palestinians themselves.”What this means is unclear, although it implies that the old guard of Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups oppose the deal.The analyst believes Sudan has taken the right path in line with the forward-looking changes taking place in the region. This new regional posture was triggered by “the emergence of a new alliance imposed by the Turkish-Iranian expansion in the region,” the article asserted.Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, was the location of the famous Arab League summit three months after the Six Day War in 1967. The summit passed a resolution saying no to peace, no to recognition and no to negotiations with Israel, the infamous “three nos.” Now that is changing and will strengthen stability, the article said.The article quotes political analyst Hajj Hamad Muhammad Khair as saying he believes “international relations are based on common interests, so wherever they are to be found, the parties will go forward to establish them... We commend the steps taken by the transitional government to that end.”Khair added: “The government succeeded in linking the path to a relationship with Israel with the file removing Sudan from the list of terrorism, and it linked peace with Tel Aviv [sic] with the approval of Parliament. This is the correct way and position.”Any international agreement needs to be approved by the legislative bodies, because Parliament needs to cancel a domestic law boycotting Israel, he said. Expectations are that parliament will move to cancel it.This will end the “international isolation of Khartoum, preceded both by the US removal of the country from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism, as well as by the international community’s positive reception of Sudan’s popular revolution,” Khair said.
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