Sudanese parliament calls to recognise State of Palestine with Jerusalem as capital
December 7, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese parliament has called on the Arab and Islamic countries to recognise the State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital amid calls by some lawmaker to expel the U.S. chargé d’affaires.
Palestine is not recognized as a state by the United Nations Security Council. But in 2015, 136 of the 193 member states of the United Nations and two non-member states have recognised the State of Palestine during the meeting of the General Assembly.
In an emergency session chaired by Ibrahim Ahmed Omar, the parliament called on all the Islamic parliaments to demand to their governments to recognize the existence of a state of Palestine with Jerusalem as the capital where they would establish their embassies.
The National Legislature also voiced its rejection to the recognition by the U.S. President Donald Trump of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, demanding that the Sudanese government and all Arab and Islamic governments take appropriate and strong measures to defeat the decision.
The call comes as the Turkish President and head of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a summit in Istanbul on December 13 to discuss Trump’s decision.
Some Members of Parliament who are not from the ruling National Congress Party, however, called on the Sudanese government to take immediate tough measures against the United States including the expulsion of the U.S. chargé d’affaires.
Among the MPs who called to expel the U.S. envoy Kamal Omer a prominent member Popular Congress Party (PCP) which participates in the Sudanese coalition government. However, he was keen to underline that this call is his personal position.
Hassan Abdel Hamid of the Muslim Brotherhood group called to resist Trump’s decision, by all means, to boycott U.S. goods, and to expel U.S. chargé d’affaires from the country.
Also, MP Abla Mahdi called on all the governments of the Arab and Islamic countries to expel U.S. ambassadors from their countries.
Deputy Speaker of the Council of State and PCP figure Mohamed al-Amin Khalifa called on the Sudanese government to impose “a political, diplomatic, and commercial boycott on all countries supporting the decision of President Trump”.
Speaking at the extraordinary session, Sudanese top diplomat Ibrahim Ghandour admitted that Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital will lead to serious repercussions in the Middle East and the world at large.
Ghandour also pointed out that the decision would increase terror attacks worldwide.
Also, Khartoum didn’t witness any popular protests in response to the decision but some expect that protests would take place the Friday prayer.
(ST)