CAIRO (AP) – Sudan said Wednesday it had signed an agreement with the United States that paves the way for the cash-strapped African nation to normalize relations with Israel and repay some of its massive debt to the World Bank.
Attorney General Nasredeen Abdulbari signed the deal with a visit to US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, according to the prime minister’s office.
“This is a very, very important agreement. It would have a tremendous impact on the people of Israel and the people of the Sudan if they continue to work together for cultural and economic opportunities and trade,” Mnuchin said in comments on the state-run news agency SUNA. .
Abdulbari said that Sudan “ welcomed the rapprochement between Israel and the countries of the region, as well as the beginning of diplomatic relations, which we will work with us in the near future to strengthen and expand them for the sake of Sudan and in the importance of other countries in the region. “
During Mnuchin’s visit, the US and Sudan also signed a “ memorandum of understanding ” to facilitate the payment of the African country’s debt to the World Bank, the Treasury Department said, a move widely seen as an important step in towards Khartoum’s economic recovery.
The ministry said the settlement would allow Sudan to withdraw more than $ 1 billion a year from the World Bank for the first time in nearly three decades, when the country was designated a pariah state. receive.
Sudan has more than $ 60 billion in foreign debt.
On October 23, President Donald Trump announced Sudan would become the third Arab state to normalize ties with Israel as part of a US-brokered deal known as the “Abraham Accords,” after the biblical patriarch revered by Muslims and Jews.
That followed the North African nation’s agreement to put $ 335 million in an escrow account to compensate American victims of terrorist attacks. This included the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania by the Al-Qaeda network while the leader, Osama bin Laden, was living in Sudan. The country is also said to have served as a pipeline for Iran to supply weapons to Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.
In return, Trump notified Congress of his intention to remove Sudan from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism, a major boost to the deal.
There was no immediate response from Israel on Wednesday.
The Trump administration last year announced diplomatic pacts between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain – the first since Jordan recognized Israel in the 1990s and Egypt in the 1970s. Morocco also has diplomatic ties with Israel. The agreements are all with countries that are geographically distant from Israel and which, if any, have played a minor role in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The accords have contributed to the serious isolation and weakening of the Palestinians by eroding the long-standing Arab consensus that recognition of Israel should only be given in exchange for concessions in the peace process.
While Sudan is not a regional powerhouse, establishing ties with Israel is highly symbolic. Sudan hosted the Khartoum Summit in 1967, where Arab countries pledged never to make peace with Israel, and more recently had close ties with Israeli enemies such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
Sudan is on a fragile path to democracy after a popular uprising led to the military overthrowing longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. The province is now ruled by a joint military and civilian government seeking closer ties with Washington and the West.
During his visit, Mnuchin met with General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the head of the ruling sovereign council, and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.
It is the first visit by a sitting US Secretary of the Treasury to Sudan, the statement said. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in August became the first top US diplomat to visit Sudan since 2005, when Condoleezza Rice paid a visit.
The visit came “at a time when our bilateral relations are making historic leaps towards a brighter future. We plan to make tangible progress today as our relationships move into a #NewEra, ”Hamdok tweeted.
The Justice Department said last month that the US would provide a $ 1 billion bridge loan to the World Bank on behalf of Sudan, in addition to $ 1.1 billion in direct and indirect US aid.
Since al-Bashir’s expulsion, Sudan has been ruled by a joint military and civilian government seeking closer ties with the West. It suffers from a massive budget deficit and widespread shortages of essential goods, including fuel, bread and medicine.
According to official figures, annual inflation has risen by more than 200% in recent months as the prices of bread and other commodities soared.
Mnuchin’s visit came amid mounting tensions between military and civilian members of Sudan’s transitional government. Those tensions, which have resurfaced in recent weeks, have largely focused on the military’s economic assets, over which the civilian-led Ministry of Finance has no control.
John Prendergast, co-founder of The Sentry watchdog group, said Mnuchin must put pressure on the military and security apparatus to allow “independent oversight” of the companies they monitor.
“While Minister Mnuchin is in charge of leadership in Khartoum, it is critical that he provides strong support for international anti-money laundering standards and tax transparency, which are essential for Sudan to counter the looting of its national economy,” he said.
Mnuchin flew from Cairo to Sudan, where he met Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, a close US ally. The stops are part of a wave of activity during the closing days of the Trump administration.
Mnuchin later tweeted that he was on his way to Israel “for important meetings.”
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Joe Federman, Associated Press writer in Jerusalem, contributed.