Sudan, Qatar agree to establish joint political committee

March 11, 2018 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan and Qatar on Sunday have agreed to set up a joint political consultation committee between the two countries.

Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani arrived in Khartoum on Saturday evening on a two-day visit to discuss bilateral relations and hand over a message from the Emir of Qatar to President Omer al-Bashir.

Following his meeting with his Sudanese counterpart Ibrahim Ghandour, Al Thani said the two sides agreed to establish a political consultation committee between the two countries.

He added the committee would meet every six months to follow up on the implementation of the joint projects.

The Qatari top diplomat pointed out that he conveyed a verbal message to President al-Bashir from the Emir of Qatar pertaining to ways to promote bilateral relations.

He added his meeting with Ghandour discussed the implementation of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) and the reconstruction efforts in the region.

“We were delighted [to hear] that a number of parties want to join the Doha agreement” he added

Qatar has been one of the few countries where Sudan enjoys relatively warm relations with. For years the rich Arab Gulf state has hosted peace talks between the Sudanese government and Darfur rebel groups which eventually resulted in the signing of the DDPD in 2011.

However, three major rebel movements including Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-MM) led by Minnawi Minnawi, Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) led by Gibril Ibrahim and SLM-AW led by Abdel-Wahid al-Nur didn’t join the DDPD.

For his part, Ghandour thanked Qatar’s government and people for their continued support to Sudan, pointing to the DDPD and Qatar’s reconstruction efforts in Darfur.

He added the political consultation committee would meet every six months to follow-up on the joint projects and bilateral issues.

“We look forward to seeing further cooperation between the two countries during the coming period,” he said

Last year, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE and Egypt severed ties with Qatar accusing it of supporting Islamist terrorist groups and arch-foe Iran. But Doha vehemently denies the charges.

Sudan is among the Arab states that refused to take part in the ongoing diplomatic crisis and declared its support for the Kuwaiti efforts to settle the rift.

(ST)