Sudanese-Ukrainian relations take a quantum leap

By Hisham Abdelmageed

KHARTOUM, Mar 07, 2004 (Sudan Tribune) — Relations between Sudan and Ukraine, rarely talked about in the past, have entered into a new phase in 2004 according to news reports in Arab and Ukrainian press.

The Sudanese government has signed a deal to buy weapons, including 12 MiG fighter jets, from Ukraine. The London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat attributed the information on Wednesday to unnamed diplomatic sources. The sources said Khartoum had so far received four aircraft, two on December 29, 2003, two on January 29, 2004, and the rest are due to arrive in succession until June 30, 2004. A company owned by a French national had reportedly brokered the deal. It was not possible to obtain a comment from Khartoum to confirm or deny this news.

A similar, though more detailed, report surfaced on day earlier (Tuesday, March 2) on the Web site of the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army. SPLMToday.com named a Seychelles-based company called “Golden Procurements Limited” as the deal broker. It also named Iran and Egypt as countries through which the MiG fighter jets, so far, have been delivered to Sudan.

The reported January 29 delivery date caught the attention of observers because it happened to have some significance in Sudanese-Ukrainian relations, but for totally different reasons. The Sudanese Ministry of External Relations released a communiqué that was published by Khartoum-based newspapers on that same date. The communiqué was critical of Ukraine for treatment of Sudanese students there. It said cooperation between Ukraine and Sudan, in the field of students’ training in particular, had become threatened by “obstacles” such as killings and (escalating) attacks against Sudanese students. The statement said six Sudanese were killed in a year during looting operations. The Ministry expressed its regret that Ukraine authorities had been unable to find the crimes’ perpetrators and bring them to justice.

Another sign of positively developing relations was reported by Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday, March 4. Ukraine has initialed with Sudan a bilateral intergovernmental agreement on attraction and mutual protection of investment. A Ukrainian delegation led by First Deputy Minister to the Cabinet, Oleksandr Shnypko, met with the Sudanese President, Omar al-Bashir, and delivered to him a personal message from his Ukrainian counterpart, President Kuchma.