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Sudanese leader heads to Uganda while Netanyahu was there, one day after Pompeo invites him to Washington.
By LAHAV HARKOV
FEBRUARY 3, 2020 19:08
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and wife, Sarah, meet with Uganda's President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni., February 3, 2020
(photo credit: HAIM ZACH/GPO)
Israel and Sudan may upgrade their diplomatic relations, following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Uganda on Monday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Sudan’s leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan met on Monday for two hours in Entebbe, Uganda, under the invitation of Uganda's President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
It was agreed to start cooperation that would normalize relations between the two countries. Netanyahu said that he believes that Sudan is moving in a new and positive direction.
Israel is hopeful that any potential normalization of ties will eventually allow civilian planes from Israel to enter Sudanese airspace, significantly shortening flight times to areas such as South America and other regions.
Before boarding a flight to Entebbe, Netanyahu said: “I hope that at the end of the day we will have very good news for the State of Israel.”
The US invited Burhan to visit Washington on Sunday, after the Sudanese army topped president Omar al-Bashir last year.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo extended the invitation to Burhan in a phone call. Pompeo said in December that the countries plan to exchange ambassadors after a 23-year hiatus. The US declared Sudan a state sponsor of terrorism in 1993.
The warming of ties with the US and Israel indicates that Sudan is leaving Iran’s orbit following Bashir’s ousting.
Earlier Monday, on the tarmac before his flight to Uganda, Netanyahu said touted the importance of his visit to Uganda.
“Israel is returning to Africa in a big way; Africa already returned to Israel,” the prime minister stated ahead of his fifth visit to Africa in less than four years. “These are very important ties for diplomacy, for the economy, for security and more will be revealed.”
Netanyahu met with Ugandan President Museveni and members of his cabinet during his visit.
Mossad chief Yossi Cohen was part of Netanyahu’s delegation.
Sources in Uganda’s Evangelical Christian community told The Jerusalem Post last week the country will announce having its embassy in Jerusalem during Netanyahu’s trip.
Museveni is an Evangelical Christian.
If Uganda opens an embassy in Jerusalem, it will be the third country to do so, following the US and Guatemala.
However, reports the country plans to open an embassy in Jerusalem are false, Ugandan Permanent Secretary at the Foreign Ministry Patrick Mugova told local media.
Kampala does not have a mission to Israel, while Israel has a visa processing office in the Ugandan capital.
Netanyahu last visited Uganda in 2016 to hold a seven-country summit and to mark the 40th anniversary of the raid on Entebbe, in which his brother Yoni Netanyahu, the operation’s commander, was killed.
https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News...the-agenda-for-Netanyahus-Uganda-visit-616374
By LAHAV HARKOV
FEBRUARY 3, 2020 19:08
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and wife, Sarah, meet with Uganda's President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni., February 3, 2020
(photo credit: HAIM ZACH/GPO)
Israel and Sudan may upgrade their diplomatic relations, following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Uganda on Monday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Sudan’s leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan met on Monday for two hours in Entebbe, Uganda, under the invitation of Uganda's President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
It was agreed to start cooperation that would normalize relations between the two countries. Netanyahu said that he believes that Sudan is moving in a new and positive direction.
Israel is hopeful that any potential normalization of ties will eventually allow civilian planes from Israel to enter Sudanese airspace, significantly shortening flight times to areas such as South America and other regions.
Before boarding a flight to Entebbe, Netanyahu said: “I hope that at the end of the day we will have very good news for the State of Israel.”
The US invited Burhan to visit Washington on Sunday, after the Sudanese army topped president Omar al-Bashir last year.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo extended the invitation to Burhan in a phone call. Pompeo said in December that the countries plan to exchange ambassadors after a 23-year hiatus. The US declared Sudan a state sponsor of terrorism in 1993.
The warming of ties with the US and Israel indicates that Sudan is leaving Iran’s orbit following Bashir’s ousting.
Earlier Monday, on the tarmac before his flight to Uganda, Netanyahu said touted the importance of his visit to Uganda.
“Israel is returning to Africa in a big way; Africa already returned to Israel,” the prime minister stated ahead of his fifth visit to Africa in less than four years. “These are very important ties for diplomacy, for the economy, for security and more will be revealed.”
Netanyahu met with Ugandan President Museveni and members of his cabinet during his visit.
Mossad chief Yossi Cohen was part of Netanyahu’s delegation.
Sources in Uganda’s Evangelical Christian community told The Jerusalem Post last week the country will announce having its embassy in Jerusalem during Netanyahu’s trip.
Museveni is an Evangelical Christian.
If Uganda opens an embassy in Jerusalem, it will be the third country to do so, following the US and Guatemala.
However, reports the country plans to open an embassy in Jerusalem are false, Ugandan Permanent Secretary at the Foreign Ministry Patrick Mugova told local media.
Kampala does not have a mission to Israel, while Israel has a visa processing office in the Ugandan capital.
Netanyahu last visited Uganda in 2016 to hold a seven-country summit and to mark the 40th anniversary of the raid on Entebbe, in which his brother Yoni Netanyahu, the operation’s commander, was killed.
https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News...the-agenda-for-Netanyahus-Uganda-visit-616374
