CAIRO (AP) – Sudan announced on Wednesday that it had signed the “Abraham Agreements” with the United States, paving the way for the African country to normalize ties with Israel.
A statement from the Sudanese Prime Minister’s office said that Justice Minister Nasredeen Abdulbari signed the deal on Wednesday with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The recent deals negotiated by the United States between the Arab countries and Israel were an important achievement of the foreign policy of President Donald Trump’s government. The agreements were called “Abraham’s Agreements” in honor of the biblical patriarch revered by Muslims and Jews.
The signing came just over two months after Trump announced that Sudan would begin to normalize ties with Israel.
Before Sudan, the Trump administration devised diplomatic pacts at the end of last year between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain – the first since Jordan recognized Israel in the 1990s and Egypt in the 1970s. Morocco also established relations diplomatic ties with Israel.
The agreements are all with countries that are geographically distant from Israel and have played a minor, if any, role in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The agreements also contributed to the severe isolation and weakening of the Palestinians, eroding a long-standing Arab consensus that Israel’s recognition should only be given in exchange for concessions in the peace process.
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The U.S. and Sudan agreed on Wednesday to pay off the African country’s debt to the World Bank, widely seen as an important step towards the country’s economic recovery following the fall in 2019 of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
The change came during Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s visit to Khartoum, making him the first American official to land there since President Donald Trump’s administration removed the African country from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Mnuchin arrived at Khartoum International Airport, where he received acting Finance Minister Heba Mohammed Ali and US Chargé d’Affaires in Sudan, Brian Shukan, the Prime Minister’s office said in a statement.
It is the first visit by a US Treasury Chief to Sudan, the statement said. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in August, he became the first American diplomat to visit Sudan since 2005, when Condoleezza Rice visited him. Pompeo was also the most senior US official to visit the African country since the overthrow of al-Bashir last year.
Mnuchin’s visit came after a one-day visit to Cairo, where he met Egypt’s President, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, a close ally of the United States. The stops are part of a flurry of activity during the last days of the Trump administration. Democrat Joe Biden becomes president on January 20.
The US Treasury Secretary has met with Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and is expected to meet with other Sudanese leaders, including General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, head of the ruling sovereign council.
The visit took place “at a time when our bilateral relations are making historic leaps towards a better future. We are planning to take tangible steps today, as our relationships enter a #NewEra, ”tweeted Hamdok.
Mnuchin’s one-day visit focused on the country’s struggling economy and possible US economic assistance, including debt relief, the statement said. Sudan today has more than $ 60 billion in foreign debt. Relief of arrears and access to foreign loans are widely seen as the gateway to economic recovery.
Sudan’s Ministry of Finance said it signed a “memorandum of understanding” with the US Treasury Department to facilitate payment of Sudan arrears to the World Bank.
The ministry said the deal would allow the government of Sudan to receive more than $ 1 billion annually from the World Bank, for the first time in nearly three decades, when Sudan was designated an outcast state. He did not provide further details.
The Ministry of Justice, however, announced last month that the United States would take out a $ 1 billion bridge loan to the World Bank to help settle Sudan’s debts with the institution, in addition to $ 1.1 billion in direct aid. and indirect from the USA
Sudan is on a fragile path to democracy after a popular uprising led the military to overthrow al-Bashir in April 2019. The county is now governed by a joint civil and military government that seeks better ties with Washington and the West.
The government has struggled with a huge budget deficit and a general shortage of essential goods, including fuel, bread and medicines.
Annual inflation has risen to over 200% in recent months, as prices for bread and other staple foods have risen, according to official data.
Last month, the Trump administration finalized the removal of Sudan from the United States’ list as sponsors of terrorism. The move was a key incentive for the Khartoum government to normalize relations with Israel.
The two countries, Sudan and Israel, have agreed to have full diplomatic relations, making Sudan the third Arab state – after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain – to normalize relations with Israel last year. Morocco also established diplomatic relations with Israel.
Sudan’s economy has suffered from decades of US sanctions and mismanagement under al-Bashir, who has ruled the country since a Islamist-backed military coup in 1989.
The designation dates back to the 1990s, when Sudan briefly hosted Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and other wanted militants. Sudan is also believed to have served as a pipeline for Iran to supply weapons to Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.
Mnuchin’s visit came amid growing tensions between the military and civilians of the Sudanese transitional government. by civilians, it has no control.
John Prendergast, co-founder of the watchdog group The Sentry, urged the US Treasury Secretary to press the military and security apparatus to allow “independent oversight” of the businesses they control.
“As Secretary Mnuchin engages with the leadership in Khartoum, it is critical that he strongly support international standards to combat money laundering and fiscal transparency, which are essential for Sudan to contain the plunder of its national economy” , he said.