Sudan made no promises to 'normalising ties' with Israel

Sudan's cabinet said on Thursday that the country's leader General Abdel Fattah al Burhan had made no promise to Israel's prime minister of "normalising ties" between the two countries.

Burhan, who heads Sudan's ruling sovereign council, met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for previously unannounced talks in Entebbe on Monday that appeared to signal an end to Sudan's long-standing boycott of the Jewish state.

Soon after their meeting, Netanyahu announced that the two leaders had agreed to cooperate towards normalising ties in a meeting set up by Uganda.

Sudan's transitional cabinet said that meeting Netanyahu was Burhan's "personal initiative" and he had made no promises to the Israeli premier.

"The chief of the sovereign council told us ... he did not give any commitment and did not talk of normalising relations," government spokesman Faisal Mohamed Salih told reporters early Thursday.

"He did not give a promise of normalising or having diplomatic relations."

Issue beyond govt's mandate 

Salih said the issue of relations with Israel was something the current transitional government was not mandated to decide.

"This government has a very limited mandate. The issue of relations with Israel is beyond its mandate," he said.

The transitional government headed by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok was formed months after the ouster of longtime despot Omar al Bashir amid nationwide protests in April last year.

Burhan heads the ruling sovereign council, a joint civilian and military body tasked with overseeing the country's transition to civilian rule.

Sudanese top brass has backed Burhan's initiative in holding the meeting, saying it will help boost national security. The cabinet says it was not informed of the meeting in advance.

'A stab in the back'

The Palestine Liberation Organization called Burhan and Netanyahu's meeting "a stab in the back of the Palestinian people."

Sudan has long been part of a decades-old Arab boycott of Israel over its treatment of the Palestinians and its occupation of Arab lands.

In the wake of the Six-Day War of 1967 in which Israel occupied the Palestinian territories and seized the Golan Heights from Syria, Arab leaders held a historic meeting in Khartoum to announce what became known as the "three nos" — no peace, no recognition, no negotiations with Israel.

'We reject this meeting'

On Thursday, veteran Sudanese politician Sadeq al Mahdi, who was prime minister when previous ruler Omar al Bashir seized power in a coup in 1989, spoke out against normalising ties with Israel.

"We reject this meeting as it will impact our national interest negatively. We are against it strongly," Mahdi told reporters.

"We close the door completely for normalising of relations with Israel."