UAE warship docks Port Sudan for joint military exercise
December 6, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – A United Arab Emirates (UAE) warship on Wednesday has arrived at Port Sudan naval base on the Red Sea to participate in the first joint military exercise between the two countries.
Dubbed “Coasts Heroes 1”, the exercise is the first of its kind within the framework of the military cooperation protocols between the two countries which also include training and exchange of experiences.
According to the official news agency SUNA, the Sudanese and UAE’s army commanders have received the warship “Jebel Ali 5” upon arrival at the northern port of Port Sudan.
It is noteworthy that the military exercise has kicked off last Sunday at Gabait military base in the Red Sea State with the aim of strengthening military relations between the two countries.
The commander of the Coasts Heroes 1, Brigadier General Amir Youssef, had previously said the first phase of the exercise includes the theoretical work while the second phase contains the field work involving the participation of soldiers and equipment.
He added the exercise comes according to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two countries last May which provides to conduct the first exercise in Sudan this year and the second in the UAE in the middle of next year.
Sudan 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.
However, in January 2016, Sudan severed ties with Iran after an attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran amid a row over the execution of a Shiite Muslim cleric.
(ST)