Sudanese leaders have found themselves divided over US precondition of normalising ties with Israel before Sudan could be removed from US list of states sponsoring terror. Sudan is under tremendous pressure from US to normalise ties with Israel. This is widely seen as Trump administration’s attempt to win more brownie points before US Presidential Elections on November 3.

Sudan, an Arab country, was designated by the US as a state sponsoring terrorism back when its toppled ruler Omar al-Bashir called the shots.

The interim government in Sudan is negotiating terms for its removal from the list as it will be possible for the government to get international funds critically necessary for the battered economy. However, the precondition of normalisation of ties with Israel is a recently added talking point in the negotiations.

“This topic (ties to Israel) needs a deep discussion of the society,” said Abdalla Hamdok, Prime Minister of Sudan told a conference in Khartoum.

Sudan’s surging inflation and plummeting currency have been the biggest challenges to Hamdok’s transitional administration, which rules with the military since Bashir’s ouster.

Sudan was put on the U.S. list in 1993 because the United States believed Bashir’s government was supporting militant groups. But many in Sudan consider this is undeserved since Bashir was removed last year and Sudan has long cooperated with the United States on counter-terrorism.

During a video statement to the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday, which was pre-recorded because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, Hamdok said Sudan was actively cooperating with international and bilateral efforts to fight terrorism and terrorism financing.

“Sudan’s name should be removed from the list of countries that are sponsoring terrorism. Sudan has returned to the international fold after 30 years outside it. This must happen,” he said. “We hail the efforts of the U.S. government and the U.S. Congress to remove Sudan’s name from the list.”

The White House and State Department have declined to comment when asked about the status of negotiations.

Sudan was a staunch foe of Israel under Bashir. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the chairman of Sudan’s transitional military council, had a surprise meeting in Uganda earlier this year with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.