U.S. Delegation Cancels Visit on Bilateral Relations to Khartoum

November 18, 2020 

(KHARTOUM) - U.S. delegation that was due to visit Khartoum on Thursday has abruptly cancelled its trip to Khartoum, Sudan Tribune learnt on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump reacts after hanging up a phone call with the leaders of Sudan and Israel, as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, second from left, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, and others applaud in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Oct. 23, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

"A delegation from the U.S. National Security Council has cancelled consultations meeting with Sudanese officials related to activating agreements and discussing ways to develop bilateral cooperation between the two countries," a Sudanese official told the Sudan Tribune under anonymity.

The meeting was scheduled weeks ago, also the parties were in contact during the past two days before the American delegation decided to cancel its arrival on Thursday, the official stressed.

Trump administration decided to remove Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism after pressing Khartoum to accept normalization with Tel Aviv.

The talks on the normalization process between Sudan and Israel has been carried out by the National Security Council and not the Department of State.

Within the framework of this tripartite deal, the U.S. administration also pledged to provide multifaceted support to the reform process engaged by the Sudanese transitional government.

On 10 November, Israel said intending to send a delegation in a first official visit to Sudan on 15 November to discuss the normalization of bilateral relations.

At the time, several sources reached by the Sudan Tribune said they were not aware of the visit, and denied the arrival of the Israeli delegation.

It is worth mentioning that the normalization with Israel divided Sudanese, as some reject it saying it should be linked to a peace agreement with the Palestinians. Also, some reject it saying Trump was blackmailing the Sudanese people.

The Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok sought to resist the normalization but he conceded and joined the head of the Sovereign Council al-Burhan in his "let’s think about our people first".

(ST)