Sudan ‘astonished’ at spokesman’s remarks about ‘contacts’ with Israel

Khartoum: Sudan’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday it was astonished by remarks made by its own spokesman in which he said Khartoum had “contacts” with Israel, stressing that the government had not discussed the possibility of diplomatic relations.

Haydar Sadig, the ministry’s spokesman, made the comment to Reuters earlier in the day and praised the United Arab Emirates’ decision to normalise relations with Israel as “a brave and bold step”. He was confirming remarks made earlier to regional media.

Under the US-brokered deal announced last week, the UAE becomes the just third Arab country to forge full relations with Israel in more than 70 years. The pact could reshape Middle East politics from the Palestinian issue to the fight against Iran.

In February, Israeli officials said Israel and Sudan had agreed to move towards forging normal relations for the first time during a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of Sudan’s military-led, transitional sovereign council, in Uganda.

“The Emirates’ move is a brave and bold step and contributes to putting the Arab world on the right track to build peace in the region and to build sustainable peace,” Sadig told Reuters by phone on Tuesday.

“I cannot deny that there are contacts between Sudan and Israel,” he added.

Read the article by Khalid Abdelaziz in The Sydney Morning Herald.