CAIRO (AP) – Sudan said on Wednesday that it had signed “Abraham’s agreements” with the United States, paving the way for the African country to normalize ties with Israel.
A statement from the Sudanese prime minister’s office said Justice Minister Nasredeen Abdulbari signed the agreement on Wednesday with visiting US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The recent US-negotiated agreements between Arab countries and Israel have been a major achievement of President Donald Trump’s foreign policy. The agreements were named “Abraham’s Agreements” after the biblical patriarch revered by Muslims and Jews.
The signing came just over two months after Trump announced that Sudan would begin normalizing ties with Israel.
Prior to Sudan, the Trump administration drafted diplomatic pacts late last year 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 established diplomatic ties with Israel. .
The agreements are all with countries that are geographically distant from Israel and that have played a minor role, if any, in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The agreements also contributed to the severe isolation and weakening of the Palestinians by eroding a long-standing Arab consensus that recognition of Israel should be granted only in exchange for concessions in the peace process.
THIS IS A NEWS UPDATE. The following is AP’s previous story.
The United States and Sudan on Wednesday agreed to settle the African country’s debt to the World Bank, widely seen as a key step toward the nation’s economic recovery following the 2019 overthrow of autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
The move came during Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s visit to Khartoum, making him the first U.S. official to land there since President Donald Trump’s administration removed the African country from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Mnuchin arrived at Khartoum International Airport, where she was received by the current finance minister, Heba Mohammed Ali, and Sudanese head of US affairs Brian Shukan, the prime minister’s office said in a statement.
It is the first visit of a US Treasury chief to Sudan, the statement said. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo In August, she became the first top American diplomat to visit Sudan in 2005, when she was visited by Condoleezza Rice. Pompeo was also the highest-ranking US official to visit the African country since al-Bashir’s dismissal last year.
Mnuchin’s visit came after a one-day visit to Cairo, where he met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, a close ally of the United States. The shutdowns are part of an explosion of activity in the last days of the Trump administration. Democrat Joe Biden becomes president on January 20th.
The US Treasury Secretary has met with Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and is scheduled to meet with other Sudanese leaders, including General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the head of the sovereign governing council.
The visit came “at a time when our bilateral relations are making historic leaps into a better future. We plan to make tangible progress today as our relationships enter a #NewEra, “Hamdok wrote on Twitter.
Mnuchin’s one-day visit focused on the country’s troubled economy and possible US economic assistance, including debt reduction, the statement said. Sudan today has over $ 60 billion in foreign debt. Exemption from its arrears and access to external loans are widely seen as the gateway to economic recovery.
The Sudanese Ministry of Finance said it had signed a “memorandum of understanding” with the US Treasury Department to facilitate the payment of Sudan’s arrears to the World Bank.
The ministry said the settlement would allow the Sudanese government to receive more than $ 1 billion a year from the World Bank for the first time in nearly three decades, when Sudan was designated a pariah state. He did not provide further details.
However, the Justice Ministry announced last month that the United States will provide a $ 1 billion loan to the World Bank to help eliminate Sudan’s arrears to the institution, in addition to $ 1.1 billion in direct and indirect aid from the US side
Sudan is on a fragile path to democracy after a popular uprising led the army to overthrow al-Bashir in April 2019. The county is now ruled by a joint military and civilian government seeking better ties with Washington and the West.
The government has struggled with a huge budget deficit and a wide shortage of essential goods, including fuel, bread and medicine.
Annual inflation has risen by 200% in recent months, as prices for bread and other commodities have risen, according to official figures.
Last month, the Trump administration completed the removal of Sudan from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism. The move was a key incentive for the Khartoum government to normalize relations with Israel.
The two countries, Sudan and Israel, have agreed to have full diplomatic ties, making Sudan the third Arab state – after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain – which went on to normalize relations with Israel late last year. Morocco has also established diplomatic ties with Israel.
Sudan’s economy has suffered decades of sanctions and mismanagement by the US under al-Bashir, which led the country to a 1989 Islamist-backed military coup.
The name dates back to the 1990s, when Sudan briefly hosted al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and other wanted militants. Sudan is also believed to have served as a conduit for Iran to supply weapons to Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.
Mnuchin’s visit came amid rising tensions between military and civilian members of Sudan’s transitional government. These tensions, which have resurfaced in recent weeks, have largely focused on the Sudanese army’s economic assets, over which the civilian-led finance ministry has no control.
John Prendergast, co-founder of The Sentry, urged the US Treasury Secretary to put pressure on the military and security apparatus to allow “independent oversight” of the companies it controls.
“As Secretary Mnuchin engages with the Khartoum leadership, it is essential that he have strong support for international anti-money laundering and fiscal transparency standards, which are essential for Sudan to counter the looting of its national economy.” he said.