Sudan

KHARTOUM, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Sudan on Saturday called for raising the negotiation on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) from the ministerial level to the level of head of state.

"The negotiation must be raised from the level ministers to the level of presidents of the three countries through the African Union in order to provide political support for the negotiations," Sudanese Irrigation and Water Resources Minister Yasir Abbas said at a press conference in the capital Khartoum.

26 Aug 2020; MEMO: Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Abi Ahmed, arrived in Sudan yesterday on a one-day visit aimed at strengthening relations between the two countries, the official Sudanese News Agency (SUNA) reported.

SUNA said Ahmed was received at Khartoum airport by his Sudanese counterpart, Abdullah Hamdok.

26 Aug 2020; MEMO: The deepening economic crisis in Sudan is causing disputes between the civilian and military leaderships within the Sudanese transitional government.

26 Aug 2020; MEMO: US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, visited the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, yesterday arriving on a flight directly from Tel Aviv, Israel, in a historic move.

Pompeo said on Twitter that he was happy to be on board the first official direct flight from Israel to Sudan.

The New York Times reported that the direct flight between the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv and Khartoum came after Pompeo’s plane obtained special permission.

24 Aug 2020; MEMO: Sudan’s Ba’ath and Popular Congress parties have rejected any attempt to normalise ties with Israel, considering it an occupation power in Palestine, Quds Press reported yesterday.

Both parties said in a joint statement issued on Saturday that “Israel is an occupation state that occupies beloved Palestine.”

They stressed that “it is impossible and it is not right to normalise relations with the Israeli occupation state.”

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is to visit Sudan in the coming days, a Sudanese government official said on Sunday.

Sudan has been normalising relations with the United States since the overthrow of former leader Omar al-Bashir in April 2019 but is still seeking removal from a list of countries the U.S. considers as state sponsors of terrorism.

Pompeo is also due to visit Israel and the United Arab Emirates on Monday and Tuesday following an accord between the two countries this month to forge full relations.

KHARTOUM, Aug 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The spokesman for Sudan’s foreign ministry was fired Wednesday, a day after telling a media outlet that Sudan is getting ready to sign an agreement with Israel to normalize relations between the two countries.  

Acting foreign minister Omer Gamaruddeen Ismail said the government was surprised by the statement from spokesman Haider Badawi Saddiq, adding that relations between Sudan and Israel have not been discussed in the foreign ministry at all.   

“No one tasked Badawi with making statements on this matter,” said Ismail. 

KHARTOUM, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Sudan's Foreign Ministry on Saturday expressed "reservation" toward a U.S. warning against travelling to Sudan for its citizens.

The U.S. State Department's travel warning issued on Thursday rests "on the claim that crimes such as kidnapping, armed robbery, home invasion and carjacking can occur," the ministry said in a statement.

"The warning contained a negative signal about the possibility that the police and other security forces may respond violently to the peaceful demonstrations," it added.

KHARTOUM, July 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Sudanese government is sending more troops to the restive Darfur region, following a spike in violence there.

Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said the forces would protect people during the farming season.

Unidentified gunmen killed more than 60 people in the region on Saturday, and another 20 the day before, the UN said.

Hundreds of thousands of people have died in fighting between government forces and rebels since 2003. Millions have been forced from their homes.

KHARTOUM, July 27 (NNN-SUNA) – More than 60 people have been killed and another 60 injured, in violence in Sudan’s West Darfur region, the United Nations (UN), said.

About 500 militants attacked the village of Masteri in the West Darfur state on Saturday afternoon, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said, in a statement on Sunday.

“This was one of the latest of a series of security incidents reported over the last week, that left several villages and houses burned, markets and shops looted, and infrastructure damaged,” it said.