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KHARTOUM – Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud’s visit to Khartoum on Tuesday raised questions about the role Riyadh can play in normalizing relations between Sudan and Israel.
Riyadh, according to internal sources, played a key role alongside the United Arab Emirates in convincing the administration of outgoing US President Donald Trump of the need to remove Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
During his one-day visit, Prince Faisal met with Sudan’s Acting Foreign Minister Omar Qamaruddin before holding talks with the head of Sudan’s Transitional Council, Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.
Prince Faisal’s visit came after Sudan threatened to back down in its move to normalize ties with Israel unless the United States Congress voted to remove the country from the list of state sponsors of terrorism and pass a “peace of law” legislation granting Sudan immunity from prosecution for terrorist acts. .
Sudanese sources told The Arab Weekly that Riyadh supports Khartoum’s strategy to deal with the normalization file and its insistence on being removed from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The country, sources said, hopes to get rid of the sanctions and dedicate its efforts to a new phase of reconstruction as it strives to form an Arab alliance to meet regional challenges.
If Sudan fails to finalize the deal with the current administration in Washington, it plans to draw up a roadmap for the new administration to be inaugurated in January, provided the latter takes a similar approach.
Observers believe Riyadh is pushing for a collective approach to the issue of normalization as Arab countries prepare for a new phase after Trump leaves the White House.
According to experts, the normalization agreements are not expected to progress smoothly if Sudan or Saudi Arabia fail to unify their views before the departure of the current US administration, giving Prince Faisal’s visit to Khartoum a special meaning.
Political analyst Khaled al-Faki confirmed that Saudi Arabia believes that a comprehensive peace must be reached to tighten the screws on Iran’s powers and weapons in the region. For this to happen, he said, the issue of standardization must proceed in a way that serves the broad common interests of the two countries.
Pressure campaign
“Saudi Arabia is more involved than ever in efforts to remove Sudan from the terrorism list. Riyadh’s approach is a key part of the lobbying campaign by many parties on members of Congress to pass ‘legal peace’ legislation, “Faki told The Arab Weekly, noting that” Prince Faisal’s visit has as an objective to coordinate the political positions to avoid the failure of the current impulse “.
Western media previously indicated that Israel had begun lobbying Congress to pass a bill that would grant immunity to Khartoum from future lawsuits in the United States by victims of terror attacks.
Experts warn that Sudan could fall victim to polarization from rival forces seeking to expand their influence in the region if it is not permanently removed from the list.
Therefore, it is in Saudi Arabia’s interest that Sudan free itself from foreign pressures that could previously control many of the perceptions of ousted President Omar al-Bashir.
Sudanese sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Arab Weekly that Prince Faisal’s visit sought to coordinate military and intelligence efforts to secure the Red Sea shores and fill the security vacuum in order to confront the organizations. terrorists and Iranian-backed Houthi militias. .
The visit, according to the sources, also sought to determine ways to prevent threats to maritime navigation and world trade caused by Houthi naval mines.
According to the Saudi-led Arab coalition, the Iranian-backed Houthis have randomly deployed hundreds of naval mines, many of which have been discovered and removed in recent months.
Riyadh believes that Sudan’s stability reduces security risks in the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa, as terrorist organizations have long exploited a vacuum in eastern Sudan to threaten maritime navigation and facilitate the tasks of the forces considered hostile to Arab security.
Sudan’s involvement in the region’s new security equation, of which Israel could also be a part, requires helping Khartoum overcome its many crises, according to Riyadh.
In the wake of the overthrow of the Bashir regime, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates announced a $ 3 billion financial support package for Sudan, and in October last year, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud received the two chiefs. of the Sudan Sovereignty Council, as well as several Sudanese ministers.
Al-Rasheed Muhammad Ibrahim, a political science professor at the Center for International Relations in Khartoum, said Prince Faisal’s visit came amid divisions threatening the stability of Sudan’s transitional phase, following the formation of the Council. of Partners that generated confusion.
According to Ibrahim, Riyadh understands the risk that Sudan’s political authority will be dissolved, which could result in deep security problems that would eventually damage Saudi Arabia’s regional agreements.
Saudi Arabia hosted the Friends of Sudan Conference last August and played a role in narrowing the gap between the revolutionary front, which includes political and armed movements, and the transitional government.
During the conference, Riyadh made financial aid conditional on the implementation of a peace agreement, which was signed last October.
Ibrahim told The Arab Weekly that Riyadh is also concerned about the persistent conflict in the Ethiopian Tigray region and the possible spread of violence to neighboring countries, threatening its interests in Sudan and the region.
