Political sources in Tel Aviv revealed that the Israeli government had received angry messages from Sudan’s head of the Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and Prime Minister of the transitional government, Abdullah Hamdok, because of the contacts made by the leaders of the Mossad (the Israeli external intelligence service), with the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti.
The sources said that Burhan and Hamdok deemed these contacts a conspiracy by the Mossad against the legitimate authorities in Sudan, which concluded an agreement to normalize relations with Israel last year.
Until Friday evening, Khartoum had not commented on this information published by the Walla news website in Tel Aviv, while Asharq Al-Awsat was not able to obtain a comment from the Sovereign Council or the government in this regard.
Citing Israeli diplomatic sources, the Walla report said that a private plane, coming directly from Tel Aviv, landed in Khartoum last week. The same plane was used several times by the former Mossad chief, Yossi Cohen, in his secret visits to Sudan and other countries. Mossad officials reportedly held meetings with generals loyal to the Rapid Support Forces, and perhaps with Hemedti himself.
The website noted that Hemedti - since the beginning of the normalization process between Israel and Sudan - has tried to establish independent channels of communication with Tel Aviv, in order to advance his agenda in Sudan.
The Israeli website evoked information that was published last August about a meeting between Hemedti and Cohen in Abu Dhabi. According to the Israeli sources, these relations have continued and strengthened since then, although Burhan openly expressed his dissatisfaction to former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his envoys.
According to Walla, informed sources noted that the military and political wings of the Sudanese government were not aware of the visit of Mossad leaders to the country last week. The sources reported that Sudanese government officials complained to the Chargé d'Affairs of the US Embassy in Khartoum and expressed their dissatisfaction with the contacts with Hemedti. They have also requested the administration of US President Joe Biden to convey a message on the matter to Israel.
The Israeli media report revived latent differences within the ruling team in Khartoum over the normalization of relations with Israel.
In remarks last week, Hamdok hinted at violations in the file of foreign relations, which he considered as a threat to national sovereignty and the country’s higher interests.
“The matter calls for the formation of a single mechanism between the constituent parties of the transitional period to supervise the file of foreign relations, unify visions and strengthen our regional and international relations,” he stated.
