Sudanese president was angry over reception by Saudi king in 2012: cable

June 19, 2015 (WASHINGTON) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir was upset by what appeared to be a cool reception by late king Abdullah during a 2012 visit to Riyadh prompting one of his aides to write to Riyadh expressing this displeasure, according to a cable released by Wikileaks.

WikiLeaks published on Friday more than 60,000 diplomatic cables from Saudi Arabia and said on its website it would release half a million more in the coming weeks.

The letter addressed to then Saudi foreign minister Saud al-Faisal from Bashir’s adviser Mustafa Ismail dated April 10 2012 showed Khartoum struggling since late 2011 to establish contacts with Riyadh.

“I addressed your highness on December 8, 2011 to set a time to meet your highness in accordance with directions of president Omer Hassan al-Bashir and after the wait went on for so long [to meet Saudi FM] despite repeated phone calls to your chief of staff brother Sultan, brother president [Bashir] decided to visit the Kingdom himself to meet King Abdullah Bin Abdel Aziz may god preserve him,” Ismail wrote.

“But to be honest your highness, I wish the visit did not take place as the president came back frustrated with a different impression than the one he got after every visit [in the past] he made to the kingdom (he was really distressed)”.

Ismail then asks for a meeting with al-Faisal to discuss this matter further.

The letter by Bashir’s adviser offers a rare glimpse into the strained relationship that existed between the two countries during the reign of late King Abdullah which was attributed to Khartoum’s close ties with Tehran.

The Sudanese leader has been unable to meet directly with King Abdullah since this 2012 trip despite repeated visits for pilgrimage or regional events.

Bashir has reportedly pushed for financial help from the oil-rich country at that meeting to plug the growing budget hole caused by secession of oil-rich south the year before.

To make matters worse, Saudi Arabia closed its airspace in August 2013 to the plane carrying Bashir on his way to Iran where he was scheduled to attend the inauguration ceremony of then president-elect Hassan Rouhani thus forcing him and his delegation to return home.

But Khartoum may have decided to appease the Arab Gulf state by abruptly shutting down the Iranian cultural center late last year under the pretext of spreading Shiite doctrine.

Sudan also joined the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen after meeting with King Salman in Riyadh last March.

(ST)