Sudan PM says decision on Israel relations not yet made

Khartoum, Sudan | THE INDEPENDENT | Sudan’s Prime Minister of Sudan Abdalla Hamdok has broken his silence on reports of normalization of relations with Israel following US’s decision to remove his country off list of nations sponsoring terrorism.

Hamdok said the decision by the US is not directly linked to resumption of relations with Israel, a matter he said will be pursued and discussed separately.

Trump had in announcing the lifting of sanctions, said Sudan and Israel had also agreed to normalize relations.

“HUGE win today for the United States and for peace in the world. Sudan has agreed to a peace and normalization agreement with Israel,” Trump said in a tweet.

“With the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, that’s THREE Arab countries to have done so in only a matter of weeks. More will follow!”

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SUDAN PM’S FULL STATEMENT

Greetings to the revolution and steadfastness, believing that our dear people deserve a decent life and full sovereignty over their decision and their land that they watered with the blood of the martyrs. Your government crowned a whole year of painstaking negotiations that led to the lifting of Sudan’s name from the list of states sponsoring terrorism.

Removing Sudan from this list turns the page on three decades of international isolation and opens up great opportunities for our country, especially in the economic aspect, including the following:

Starting the process of exempting Sudan from the accumulated external debts through the initiative to exempt the poorest and heavily indebted countries which is a burden that is heavier for the Sudanese economy, as it amounts to more than $60 billion, most of which are interest and arrears of debts that the defunct regime neglected to pay as part of a comprehensive economic reform program that the govt prepared & adopted.

Removing Sudan from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism allows Sudan to return to dealing with international financial institutions and to take full advantage of development grants and global aid.

The removal of Sudan from this list also sends a strong signal for the return of global financial investments in accordance with fair and transparent contracts to develop the infrastructure, agricultural and industrial sectors, and take full advantage of the country’s wealth. It would also allow Sudan to return to the global banking system,
which would facilitate bank transfers and remove restrictions imposed on Sudanese bank accounts.

Removing Sudan from this list will allow for the lifting of all restrictions & difficulties imposed on the travel & movement of Sudanese people around the world as citizens of a state sponsor of terrorism.

The removal of Sudan from this list also allows Sudanese access to all technical products and technology, directly and without intermediaries, that were banned from Sudan and the Sudanese. It has been evident to us since you entrusted us that the Sudanese people deserve to be emancipated from this list, which impeded the completion of their return to the folds of the international community, and therefore our priorities were peace and economy and removing Sudan from this list among other priorities.

Last August, the United States sent its Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on a visit to Khartoum. During this visit, Pompeo made the US offer of recognition and normalization with Israel as a condition for removing Sudan from the list of states sponsoring terrorism.

The Prime Minister rejected this condition and demanded the United States government separate the two issues, and to remove the name of Sudan from the list, as we have fulfilled all the necessary conditions to complete the process, and the government believes that the Sudanese people have the right to decide on the matter of the relationship with Israel through its constitutional institutions that have not yet been completed.

We continued negotiating with the US government based on our conviction that the two tracks are completely separate and we reached an agreement that the name of Sudan would be removed from the list of states sponsoring terrorism and that President Trump notify the US Congress to complete Sudan’s restoration of the sovereign immunity that protects it from any other claims for compensation before US courts. The agreement was announced on October 23, 2020.

The American side suggested to the government of Sudan that a four-way phone call be made in which President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulate chairman of Sovereignty Council, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the Prime Minister, Dr. Abdullah Hamdok, by removing Sudan from the list of states sponsoring terrorism, and announcing an agreement of principles between Sudan and Israel to normalize relations.

It should be noted that it was agreed to prepare an agreement between the two parties on the subject of restoring Sudanese-Israeli relations, and it will be decided by the Legislative Council.

The Presidency of the Council of Ministers wishes to emphasize Sudan’s insistence that the separation of the two tracks is based on the firm conviction that Sudan and its people are innocent of the accusation of terrorism, and that developing its relations with the countries of the world based on the interests of Sudan and the Sudanese is a matter included in the documents of the revolution and recognized by its forces as necessary for democratic transformation & openness to the world, And that Sudan’s foreign relations are among the core of the Sudanese people’s gains, which are neither compromised nor compromised during the era “of revolution and change.”

Presidency of the Council of Ministers