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Sudan Says Has Demands before Normalizing Ties with Israel

Pompeo on an official visit to Sudan to urge more Arab countries to normalize ties with Israel, following the US-brokered Israel-UAE agreement [AFP]
Pompeo on an official visit to Sudan to urge more Arab countries to normalize ties with Israel, following the US-brokered Israel-UAE agreement [AFP]
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Sudan Says Has Demands before Normalizing Ties with Israel

Pompeo on an official visit to Sudan to urge more Arab countries to normalize ties with Israel, following the US-brokered Israel-UAE agreement [AFP]
Pompeo on an official visit to Sudan to urge more Arab countries to normalize ties with Israel, following the US-brokered Israel-UAE agreement [AFP]

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Sudan in late August ahead of the US elections as part of a regional tour to convince more Arab countries to normalize ties with Israel.

During his visit to Khartoum, Pompeo pledged to lift the country from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list, invite major US companies to invest in it and provide financial assistance if it normalizes relations with Israel, Acting Foreign Minister Omar Qamar al-Din told El Tayyar daily newspaper.

“However, Sudan demanded that the US first normalizes Sudan's relations with world countries and provide it with the necessary aid before discussing Sudanese-Israeli relations,” he noted.

The US designated Sudan a state sponsor of terrorism in 1993 over ousted President Omar al-Bashir’s ties with terrorist groups. The designation makes the country ineligible for much-needed debt relief and funding from international institutions and limits potential foreign investment.

However, the US expected that the “weak” country, which faces economic and political challenges and is struggling to return to the world order, would instantly approve the normalization request and raise President Donald Trump’s chances in the elections.

Qamar al-Din pointed out that Head of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan presented a list of conditions to Pompeo, who vowed to discuss them with the US and Israeli sides before giving the final response.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok told Pompeo that his government had no mandate to normalize ties with Israel, and that such move would be decided after the transitional period.

The PM also urged the US not to link the issue of lifting Sudan from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list with the normalization with Israel request.

Despite Sudan’s announced position, Israeli officials have confirmed ongoing communication between the leaders of Khartoum and Tel Aviv.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted by several Israeli newspapers as saying on Tuesday that Sudan, Chad and Oman will normalize relations with Israel after the UAE.

“We are having many more meetings with Arab and Muslim leaders to normalize relations, including Sudan and Oman,” he said.

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Germany Says Sanctions against Syrian War Crimes Suspects Must Stay but People Need Relief

A group of young volunteers paints a mural symbolizing peace on a wall on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP)
A group of young volunteers paints a mural symbolizing peace on a wall on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP)
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Germany Says Sanctions against Syrian War Crimes Suspects Must Stay but People Need Relief

A group of young volunteers paints a mural symbolizing peace on a wall on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP)
A group of young volunteers paints a mural symbolizing peace on a wall on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP)

thGermany’s foreign minister said Sunday that sanctions against Syrian officials responsible for war crimes must remain in place but called for a “smart approach” to provide relief to the Syrian population after last month's overthrow of President Bashar Assad.

Annalena Baerbock spoke to reporters after arriving in Saudi Arabia for a conference on Syria's future attended by top European and Middle Eastern diplomats.

Germany is one of several countries that imposed sanctions on the Assad government over its brutal crackdown on dissent. Those penalties could hinder Syria's recovery from nearly 14 years of civil war that killed an estimated 500,000 people and displaced half the prewar population of 23 million, according to The AP.

“Sanctions against Assad’s henchmen who committed serious crimes during the civil war must remain in place,” Baerbock said. “But Germany proposes to take a smart approach to sanctions, providing rapid relief for the Syrian population. Syrians now need a quick dividend from the transition of power.”

Baerbock announced an additional 50 million euros ($51.2 million) in German aid for food, emergency shelters and medical care, highlighting the ongoing struggles of millions of Syrians displaced by the war.

The sanctions imposed target not only senior government officials, but also the country's oil industry, international money transfers and hundreds of entities and individuals linked to the Assad government, crippling the wider economy.

There are exemptions when it comes to humanitarian aid, but relief organizations have said that overcompliance by financial institutions hinders their operations.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said his country, which was a strong supporter of the Syrian opposition to Assad, would try to aid Syria in normalizing ties with the international community.

He said it was important to establish “a balance between the expectations of the international community and the realities faced by the new administration in Syria.”

He pledged Turkish support to the new government, especially in combating threats from the ISIS group. “As Türkiye, we are ready to do our part to ease the difficult path ahead for the Syrian people,” he said in comments carried by state-run Anadolu Agency.

The United States has eased some restrictions Last week, the United States eased some of its restrictions on Syria, with the US Treasury issuing a general license, lasting six months, that authorizes certain transactions with the Syrian government, including some energy sales and incidental transactions.

The US has also dropped a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of Ahmad al-Sharaa, a Syrian opposition leader formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month. Al-Sharaa was a former senior al-Qaeda militant who broke with the group years ago and has pledged an inclusive Syria that respects the rights of religious minorities.

The opposition factions led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule.

Much of the world severed ties with Assad and imposed sanctions on his government — and its Russian and Iranian allies — over alleged war crimes and the manufacturing of the amphetamine-like stimulant Captagon, which reportedly generated billions of dollars as packages of the little white pills were smuggled across Syria’s porous borders.

With Assad out of the picture, Syria’s new authorities hope that the international community will pour money into the country to rebuild its battered infrastructure and make its economy viable again.