Sudan’s Burhan says meeting with Netanyahu was driven by national security

February 4, 2020 (KHARTOUM) – The head of the Transitional Sovereign Council has admitted he overstepped his constitutional powers when he met with the Israeli prime minister but he stressed it was motivated by Sudan’s national security.

Abdel Fattah al-Burhan met with Benjamin Netanyahu in Uganda and agreed to work for normalising bilateral relations. The government did not condemn the meeting but issued a statement saying they were not informed of this step.

Later on, several groups of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) criticised the meeting and stressed that al-Burhan breached the Constitutional Document pointing out that diplomacy is part of the government’s attribution.

Also, the Sovereign Council and government held an extraordinary meeting to discuss the matter.

Following the joint meeting, al-Burhan issued a statement where he admitted exceeding his constitutional powers.

“I have taken this step driven by my responsibility to work tirelessly to protect and maintain Sudanese national security and achieve the supreme interests of the Sudanese people,” he said in a statement issued late after the meeting.

“I affirm that discussing and developing the relationship between Sudan and Israel is the responsibility of the authorities concerned with the matter as stipulated in the Constitutional Document,” he further stressed.

The meeting with Netanyahu was generally approved by the Sudanese even if some leaders such as Sadiq al-Mahdi of the National Umma Party said it was not productive for peace in the Middle East.

However, the general feeling was expressed by the Unionist Alliance when they stressed in a statement that the meeting constitutes “a clear violation of the Constitutional Document”.

Also, the FFC leadership issued a statement focusing on constitutional violations.

“The Constitutional Document provides that external relations are the prerogative of the executive authority, therefore what happened constitutes a major transgression that we reject with firmness and clarity”.

Al-Burhan believes that having contact with Israel and establishing dalmatic relations will help to remove his country from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism as his country is experiencing a difficult economic situation.

Observers in Khartoum agree that al-Burhan meeting with Netanyahu at least contributed to improving the international image of the military component of the transitional authority.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called al-Burhan and invited him to visit Washington on Saturday 24 hours before the meeting with Netanyahu.

(ST)