Sudan, UAE sign MoU on security cooperation

March 16, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on security cooperation between the two countries.

The MoU, which was signed on the sidelines of the seventh edition of the International Exhibition for National Security and Resilience (ISNR) in Abu Dhabi, aims to promote cooperation in the fight against crime besides exchange of experiences in areas of training, information and best police practices.

The MoU was signed by the Director General of the Sudanese Police First Lieu. Gen. Hashim Osman al-Hussein and the UAE’s Under-secretary of the Ministry of Interior Lt. Gen. Saif Abdallah Al-Sha’far.

Sudan appears to have managed to achieve a breakthrough in ties with UAE after a long period of strained relations over Khartoum’s close ties with Tehran.

UAE is in a long-standing territorial dispute with Iran over the three Gulf islands of Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunb.

Iran refuses international arbitration over the dispute and insists that its sovereignty over the islands is non-negotiable.

Last year, Sudanese authorities ordered the closure of Iranian cultural centre in the capital Khartoum, and other states in a move which was seen as gesture to the Arab Gulf states.

Earlier this week, the Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir expressed hope that Sudan could join the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), describing Sudan’s relationship with all leaders and peoples of the Gulf States without exception is excellent.

(ST)