Democracy Dies in Darkness
Middle East

Pompeo in Sudan visit pushes normalizing ties with Israel

By
August 25, 2020 at 5:59 a.m. EDT
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stands with Sudanese Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the head of the ruling sovereign council, in Khartoum, Sudan, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020. Pompeo is the most senior U.S. official to visit the African country since last year’s ouster of its autocratic leader, Omar al-Bashir. Pompeo’s visit Tuesday is meant to discuss the normalization of ties between Sudan and Israel and also show U.S. support for the country’s fragile transition to democracy. (Sudanese Cabinet via AP) (Associated Press)

CAIRO — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Sudan on Tuesday to push for normalizing ties with Israel, building on momentum from the recent historic agreement to establish relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

The Sudanese transitional government said, however, that it does not have a mandate to establish diplomatic ties with Israel. It called on the Trump administration to not make the removal of Sudan from a U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism contingent upon normalizing relations with Israel.