Sudan PM Tells Pompeo: Government Has No Mandate to Normalize with ‘Israel’

By Staff, Agencies

Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok dashed America’s hopes for quick normalization with ‘Israel’, saying his government has no mandate to establish ties with Tel Aviv and any such decision should wait until after the transitional period ends in the African country.

During talks in the capital Khartoum on Tuesday, Hamdok “clarified” to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that the country’s transitional period “is being led by a wide alliance with a specific agenda — to complete the transition, achieve peace and stability in the country and hold free elections,” Sudanese government spokesman Faisal Saleh said in a statement.

It “does not have a mandate beyond these tasks or to decide on normalization with ‘Israel’,” Hamdok was quoted as saying.

The Sudanese PM also reaffirmed the importance of separating normalization of ties from a US decision to remove Sudan’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, Saleh pointed out.

Sudan’s interim government took power last year after longtime leader Omar al-Bashir was overthrown by the army following mass popular protests. It is set to remain in office until elections in 2022.

Pompeo arrived in Khartoum on Tuesday to push for Sudan’s normalization with ‘Israel’, two weeks after the US brokered a highly contentious deal between the regime and the United Arab Emirates [UAE].

Following the talks, the US State Department said in a statement that Pompeo and Hamdok discussed “positive developments in the Sudan-‘Israel’ relationship.”

Sudan, which has no formal relations with ‘Israel’, has been cozying up to the Zionist regime over the past year.