Pompeo flies direct from Israel to Sudan to talk normalisation and US relations

US secretary of state is touring the region to encourage more Arab states to normalise relations with Israel

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, welcomes US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Khartoum. Sudan Prime Minister Office / AFP Photo

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Khartoum on Tuesday on what he said was the first non-stop flight from Israel to Sudan.

Mr Pompeo's visit is part of a regional tour after an accord between Israel and the UAE this month, and comes as Israel and the US urge more Arab countries to follow.

He met Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and ruling council leader Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan during a brief stopover in Khartoum.

They discussed US support for the civilian-led government and for “deepening the Sudan-Israel relationship”, the State Department said.

Sudan has been restoring its ties with the US after the removal from power of Omar Al Bashir in April last year.

It is pushing to be removed from the list of countries that Washington considers state sponsors of terrorism.

Asked if Mr Pompeo would announce a breakthrough in Sudan such as normalisation of ties with Israel or the removal of US sanctions, an official on the flight said: “It’s possible that more history will be made.”

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok welcomes US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Khartoum. Sudan Prime Minister's Office / AFP Photo

The official said Sudan had offered the direct flight, dropping the requirement “that such a flight make a cosmetic stop en route”.

But Mr Hamdok told Mr Pompeo that he did not have a mandate to normalise ties with Israel and that the issue should not be linked to Sudan’s removal from the state sponsors of terrorism list.

The country is a year in to a 39-month political transition in which the military and civilians are sharing power.

Its economy is in crisis and authorities have been pushing to end the US terrorism listing, which prevents Sudan from obtaining financing from international lenders.

Ties with Israel are a sensitive issue in Sudan, which under Al Bashir was a staunch opponent.

In February, Gen Al Burhan met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Uganda but cast doubt on any rapid normalisation of relations.

Sudan announced on Wednesday last week that it had sacked its foreign ministry spokesman after he said Khartoum was looking to normalise ties.

Mr Hamdok told Mr Pompeo the matter would be decided after Sudan’s transitional bodies were formed, government spokesman Faisal Saleh said.

A legislative body to serve alongside the ruling council and the government has not yet been established.

Washington imposed sanctions on Sudan over its alleged support for militant groups and the civil war in Darfur.

Trade sanctions were lifted in 2017.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, posing for a picture with Sudan's Sovereign Council chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan in Khartoum on August 25, 2020. AFP / Sudan Foreign Media Council

After a meeting with Mr Hamdok on Monday, a coalition representing the protesters who helped to topple Al Bashir last year said that the transitional government had no mandate to decide on normalising ties with Israel.

The coalition, known as Forces for the Declaration of Freedom and Change, also “emphasised the right of the Palestinian people to their land and the right to a free and dignified life”.

Sudan hosted the Arab League conference after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

The eight countries approved the “three noes”: no peace with Israel; no recognition of Israel; and no negotiations.

But hostility subsided in recent years and both countries have expressed readiness to normalise relations.