August 25, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok called on the visiting U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to delink Sudan removal from the terror list from the normalisation of relations with Israel.

Pompeo was in Khartoum on Tuesday for talks with Hamdok and the head of the Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on bilateral relations and particularly Sudan removal from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism.

In a statement issued after the meeting, the Government Spokesperson Faisal Mohamed Saleh also tacitly said that Pompeo asked Hamdok to normalize relations with Israel.

"Regarding the U.S. request to normalize relations with Israel, the Prime Minister explained to the Secretary of State that the transitional period in Sudan is led by a broad coalition with a specific agenda to complete the transition process, achieve peace and stability in the country before to hold free elections," Saleh said.

The transitional government does not have a mandate beyond these tasks to decide on normalization with Israel, he further said adding that a decision would be made on this matter after the completion of the institution of the transitional authority.

The information minister was referring to the formation of the transitional parliament which will be established after the signing of a peace agreement with the armed group.

"The Prime Minister called on the U.S. administration to separate the process of removing Sudan from the list of States Sponsoring Terrorism and the issue of normalization with Israel," he emphasized.

On 30 July, Pompeo clearly told lawmakers that his administration desire to remove Sudan from the list of states that sponsor terrorism this year if Khartoum manages to settle claims related to 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.

"I think lifting the state sponsor of terrorism designation there if we can... take care of the victims of those tragedies would be a good thing for American foreign policy," Pompeo said during a hearing in the Senate foreign relations committee.

Pompeo’s statement relieved many Sudanese because it came against statements by some U.S. senators who without any consideration of the collapse of the Sudanese economy requested to delay the removal and to negotiate more money for the African victims who are now Americans.

With Pompeo’s demand to normalize relations with Israel, Sudanese again seem disillusioned with the American administration which keeps saying there is no link between the establishment of relations with Israel and the delisting from the blacklist.

In a separate statement, al-Burhan called on the United States to rescinding Sudan’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.

The head of the Sovereign Council avoided speaking about the relationship with Israel.

(ST)