Sudan’s Burhan, Malian intelligence chief discuss closer ties amid conflict
April 9, 2025 (PORT SUDAN) – Sudan’s leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan met Mali’s intelligence chief Modibo Kone in Port Sudan on Wednesday, the latest high-level contact aimed at strengthening relations as Sudan seeks regional support amid its ongoing internal conflict, Sudan’s ruling council said.
Kone delivered an oral message to Burhan from Mali’s President Assimi Goita concerning bilateral ties and ways to enhance cooperation “in all fields”, the Sovereign Council’s media office said in a statement.
Burhan praised the “fraternal relations” between the nations and stressed the need to consolidate ties to serve their “common interests”, the statement added.
The meeting, also attended by the head of Sudan’s General Intelligence Service, General Ahmed Ibrahim Mufaddal, follows other recent engagements as both countries navigate significant security challenges.
Burhan visited Mali’s capital Bamako for 48 hours starting Jan. 11, 2025, for talks focused on security and economic cooperation. That followed a visit by another top Sudanese official, General Shams al-Din Kabbashi, to Bamako on June 5, 2024, aimed at bolstering security, military, and diplomatic links.
The push for closer security ties comes as Sudan’s army, loyal to Burhan, battles the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in a conflict now entering its third year. Khartoum has repeatedly voiced concerns about alleged recruitment activities by the RSF in neighbouring countries, including Mali and others in the Sahel region, and has sought regional cooperation to curb the flow of foreign fighters joining the conflict.
Discussions during those earlier visits reportedly included agreements to establish joint commissions and facilitate exchanges between the two countries’ armed forces.
Sudan’s transitional government has operated largely from Port Sudan since fighting erupted in the capital Khartoum a year ago. Mali’s leadership, which took power following coups, has been consolidating regional alliances while facing its own long-running security issues and international pressure.