Khartoum and Washington, who are holding talks in Abu Dhabi, are reportedly close to reaching an unconditional agreement to remove Sudan from the list of states sponsors of terrorism.
President of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan started on Sunday a two-day official visit to the UAE.
He was accompanied by a high-level ministerial delegation led by Justice Minister Nasredeen Abdelbari and a number of experts and specialists to hold talks with US officials.
According to press sources, the deal also includes US commitment to provide economic and financial aid to Sudan.
The Information Minister and government spokesman, Faisal Mohamed Saleh, told Asharq Al-Awsat that Abdelbari and his accompanying delegation are discussing with the US side the legal and technical aspects of delisting Sudan. He ruled out any discussions regarding normalizing relations with Israel.
“The delegation is not authorized to discuss the normalization issue,” Saleh explained.
During his visit to Khartoum in August, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo raised the issue of Sudan establishing ties with Israel, yet Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok told him he had no mandate to do so, stressing that such move would be decided after the transitional period.
A Sovereign Council statement has pointed out that Burhan discussed with the UAE leadership the situation in his country and several regional issues.
Meanwhile, the delegation has been discussing removing Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, supporting the transitional period, writing off US debts on Sudan, and urging friendly countries to take serious steps in the debt relief process.
The authorities are under pressure to fix the economic crisis, which has worsened since Bashir’s ouster. Inflation hit almost 170 percent in August, the currency has been in freefall and the government has declared an economic state of emergency.
In February, Burhan met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Uganda, which was condemned by Sudanese protesters. He later cast doubt on any rapid normalization of ties.
