Sudan Government Left in Dark over Burhan-Netanyahu Meeting

A government spokesman in Khartoum says officials there were unaware that Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of Sudan’s transitional Sovereignty Council, was to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. The meeting took place on Monday during a one-day visit by Netanyahu to Uganda. “We, the members of the cabinet, were not notified or consulted about this meeting. We are waiting for the chief of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan to return and give clarification about this,” the Sudanese spokesman said. Netanyahu’s office maintains the meeting came at the initiative of the Ugandan government. Sudan is in a period of major change. It seeks to move toward democracy following last April’s toppling of strongman Omar al-Bashir, and is believed to be looking toward the United States for assistance, perhaps with Israel as an intermediary. The country is seeking a massive infusion of funds, but also wants to be removed from a US list of countries that sponsor terrorism. It was been reported that Netanyahu conveyed to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo his impression that Sudan was indeed “headed in a new positive direction.”