Official: US Wants Khartoum, Tel Aviv to Normalize Ties Before Elections

 Sudanese Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. (EPA)
Sudanese Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. (EPA)
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Official: US Wants Khartoum, Tel Aviv to Normalize Ties Before Elections

 Sudanese Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. (EPA)
Sudanese Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. (EPA)

An informed source told Asharq Al-Awsat on Friday that Washington rejected a Sudanese request to separate between the issue of normalizing ties with Israel from a US decision on removing Sudan's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism.

The US is pushing for a peace agreement between the two sides before the presidential elections in November, a Sudanese official source said.

The source expressed fears from losing the chance of removing Sudan from the terrorism sponsors list, which paralyzes the government performance and impedes the reintegration of the country into the international community.

“Sudanese officials should take a decision in this regard as quickly as possible since only two weeks separate us from the presidential election campaigns. After this period, the Republican candidate would not benefit from the normalization of ties,” the source added.

However, speeding up any peace agreement with Israel is still opposed by several members of the ruling coalition parties including the National Umma Party and the Communist Party.

Sudan's acting Foreign Affairs Minister Omar Qamareddine told France 24 channel on Friday that his country has discussed with Washington the issue of removing Khartoum from the list of sponsors of terrorism for several years and that talks concerning normalizing ties with Israel is separate from this issue.

The military component of the transitional sovereign council, headed by Abdel-Fattah Burhan, supports normalizing ties with Israel and considers in Sudan's benefit.

However, the civil component of the council believes that the Transitional Government does not possess any “authorization” to decide on the normalizing process.

Last week, Vice president of the sovereign council Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo said his country will continue to strive towards building relations with Israel.

Speaking to television channel Sudania24, Dagalo said establishing relations with Israel will fulfill a promise by the US to remove Sudan from its list of countries sponsoring terrorism.



ISIS Kills Five Kurdish Fighters in Eastern Syria

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters sit on a vehicle in the north of Raqqa city, Syria. (Reuters file)
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters sit on a vehicle in the north of Raqqa city, Syria. (Reuters file)
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ISIS Kills Five Kurdish Fighters in Eastern Syria

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters sit on a vehicle in the north of Raqqa city, Syria. (Reuters file)
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters sit on a vehicle in the north of Raqqa city, Syria. (Reuters file)

The ISIS militant group said on Monday it killed five Kurdish fighters in an attack in eastern Syria's Deir Ezzor, according to the group's news agency.

The spokesperson for Syria's Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces Farhad Shami confirmed to Reuters that five members were killed in the attack which he described as "one of deadliest" against the group in a while.

Deir Ezzor city was captured by the ISIS group in 2014, but the Syrian army retook it in 2017.

Former ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a so-called “caliphate” over a quarter of Syria and Iraq in 2014 before he was killed in a raid by US special forces in northwest Syria in 2019 as the group collapsed.

It has been recently trying to stage a comeback in the Middle East, the West and Asia.