Jerusalem: Israeli Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen has led a delegation toKhartoum, a spokesman said Tuesday, months after Sudan and the Jewish statestruck a deal to normalize ties.
The Monday visit marked the first time an Israeli minister headed adelegation to the African state, Cohen’s office said. Sudanese state mediadid not report the visit. The Israeli intelligence ministry said members ofthe delegation met head of state General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and DefenseMinister Yassin Ibrahim for talks on “diplomatic, security and economicissues”.
“A first-ever memorandum on these topics was signed between the Sudanesedefense minister and Cohen,” it said. The sides also discussed “deepeningintelligence cooperation”. “The Sudanese authorities briefed the Israelidelegation on their progress on cancelling the law boycotting Israel, andamending the law imprisoning Sudanese migrants, including to Israel, whoreturn to Sudan,” the ministry added.
Sudan agreed to normalize ties with Israel in October last year and anIsraeli delegation visited Khartoum the following month. On January 6,Sudan signed the “Abraham Accords” normalizing ties with Israel, making itthe third Arab country to do so after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrainlast year. Morocco also normalized its ties with Israel in December.
Khartoum signed the accords less than a month after Washington removed itfrom its “state sponsors of terrorism” blacklist as part of a quid pro quo.But protests against normalization have continued in Sudan. On January 17,dozens of protesters gathered outside the cabinet office in Khartoum andburned the Israeli flag. Until last year, Egypt and Jordan were the onlyArab countries to have recognized Israel, in bilateral peace deals struckdecades ago.
Other Arab governments refused to normalize relations until Israel reacheda comprehensive peace agreement with the Palestinians and its otherneighbors. Cohen said his visit to Khartoum “laid the foundations for manyimportant collaborations that will help Israel and Sudan, boost regionalstability, deepen our ties with Africa and lead to more agreements withstates in the region”. – APP/AFP
Courtesy: AFP