Tel Aviv Requests Official Approval from Khartoum to Fly over Sudanese Airspace

An El Al Israel Airlines Boeing 737-900ER airplane takes off from the Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas airport as seen from Paracuellos del Jarama, outside Madrid, Spain, August 8, 2018. (Reuters)
An El Al Israel Airlines Boeing 737-900ER airplane takes off from the Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas airport as seen from Paracuellos del Jarama, outside Madrid, Spain, August 8, 2018. (Reuters)
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Tel Aviv Requests Official Approval from Khartoum to Fly over Sudanese Airspace

An El Al Israel Airlines Boeing 737-900ER airplane takes off from the Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas airport as seen from Paracuellos del Jarama, outside Madrid, Spain, August 8, 2018. (Reuters)
An El Al Israel Airlines Boeing 737-900ER airplane takes off from the Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas airport as seen from Paracuellos del Jarama, outside Madrid, Spain, August 8, 2018. (Reuters)

Israel has officially requested that the Sudanese government allow its flights to pass through the African country’s airspace after the two parties signed an initial agreement to normalize relations, said a Sudanese senior official.

The official said the request is being reviewed and no final approval has been made.

Media had recently reported Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as saying that Israeli commercial flights have been flying over Sudanese airspace since November 8.

On Friday, Israeli media reported that two Israeli flights will pass for the first time through Sudan’s airspace to Kampala and Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

Israel’s El Al Airlines operated its first commercial flight through Sudanese airspace on Sunday, reported Yedioth Ahronoth.

The flight departed from Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport to Uganda’s Entebbe International Airport. It departed Entebbe back to Israel on the same day with 153 Ugandans who will be trained on modern agricultural methods.

Commenting on the El Al flight, a Sudanese official told Asharq Al-Awsat that it may have been an exception before the official approval or rejection of the Israeli request to fly over Sudan.

The request asks that Israeli commercial jets be granted permanent approval to fly over Sudan. This includes El Al and all other Israeli airlines.

Sudan’s acting Foreign Minister Omar Qamar al-Din has previously stated that there was no reason to prevent Israel from using the Sudanese airspace.

He said Khartoum would reap financial benefits from such a move, raising its revenues from international aviation transit fees to nearly one million dollars a day.

As it stands, no Israeli plane is allowed to fly through the airspace without approval from the Foreign Ministry.



Report: US Embassy in Iraq Preparing for Ordered Evacuation Due to ‘Heightened Security Risks’

The US embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. (Reuters file)
The US embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. (Reuters file)
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Report: US Embassy in Iraq Preparing for Ordered Evacuation Due to ‘Heightened Security Risks’

The US embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. (Reuters file)
The US embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. (Reuters file)

The US embassy in Iraq is preparing for an ordered evacuation due to heightened security risks in the region, an Iraqi security official and a US source said on Wednesday.

Iran's Minister of Defense Aziz Nasirzadeh said earlier in the day that Tehran will strike US bases in the region if nuclear talks and conflict arise with Washington.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"The State Department is set to have an ordered departure for (the) US embassy in Baghdad. The intent is to do it through commercial means, but the US military is standing by if help is requested," another US official said.

US President Donald Trump said he was less confident that Iran will agree to stop uranium enrichment in a nuclear deal with Washington, according to an interview released on Wednesday.

Another US official said that there was no change in operations at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest US military base in the Middle East and that no evacuation order had been issued for employees or families linked to the US Embassy in Qatar, which was operating as usual.

Trump has repeatedly threatened Iran with bombing if it does not reach a new nuclear deal.