KHARTOUM (Reuters) – An Israeli delegation has arrived in the Sudanese capital Khartoum to discuss the normalisation of ties between the two countries, two Sudanese government sources said on Thursday.
The trip was part of an exchange of visits between Sudan and Israel and involved discussion on reaching and signing a normalisation deal, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Sudan agreed to take steps to normalise ties with Israel in a 2020 deal brokered by former U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, alongside normalisation agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.
There was no immediate comment from Israeli officials, but Foreign Minister Eli Cohen’s office said he would in the evening convene a news conference “upon his return from an historic state visit”. It did not elaborate.
As intelligence minister in 2021, Cohen made a ground-breaking visit to Sudan.
Sudan’s military, which has been in charge of the country since a 2021 coup but says it intends to hand over power to a civilian government, is seen as having led the move towards establishing relations with Israel.
Civilian groups have been more reluctant and have previously said any deal must be ratified by a transitional parliament that is yet to be formed.
(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz and Dan Williams; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Alex Richardson)
