Iraq invites Sudan’s Burhan to Arab summit, reactivates security pact

April 26, 2025 (PORT SUDAN) – Sudan’s military leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, on Saturday received an official invitation to attend the upcoming Arab League summit in Baghdad, Sudan’s Sovereignty Council said, as officials from both countries agreed to reactivate security cooperation.

The invitation to the 34th summit, scheduled for May 17 in the Iraqi capital, was delivered by Iraqi Interior Minister Abdul Amir Kamel al-Shammari, acting as an envoy for Iraq’s President Abdul Latif Jamal Rashid, the council statement added.

Arab leaders are expected to discuss economic cooperation, the Palestinian issue, and regional security at the Baghdad summit.

During the meeting in Port Sudan, Burhan, who heads the Sovereignty Council and commands the army, discussed bilateral relations and issues of common interest with al-Shammari, the council reported.

Separately, al-Shammari met with Sudan’s acting Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Osman Hussein, and Sudanese Interior Minister Police Lieutenant General Khalil Basha Sairin.

The interior ministers agreed to activate a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2023, focusing on combating organised crime, terrorism, drugs, and extremism, as well as exchanging expertise and training, both sides stated.

“The MoU… will now enter into force and will have a positive impact on security in both countries,” al-Shammari said in a press statement.

Cooperation under the MoU had stalled following the outbreak of conflict in Sudan in April 2023.

Sairin said he briefed his Iraqi counterpart on the situation in Sudan, including what he described as the army’s liberation of central areas from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Al-Shammari also announced that the Iraqi consulate in Sudan would resume operations, citing stabilising conditions and the presence of Iraqi nationals in the country.