KHARTOUM: Sudan does not want to link its removal from a US terrorism list that is hindering access to foreign funding for the country’s economy with a normalization of relations with Israel, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said on Saturday.

Sources said this week that US officials indicated in talks with a Sudanese delegation they wanted Khartoum to follow the UAE and Bahrain and open ties with Israel.

Sudan’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism dates back to its toppled ruler Omar Bashir, and makes it difficult for its new transitional government to access urgently needed debt relief and foreign financing. Hamdok said Sudan had told US

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a visit last month it was necessary to separate the removal from the US list from the normalization of relations with Israel.

“This topic (ties to Israel) needs a deep discussion of the society,” he told a conference in Khartoum to discuss economic reforms.

Sudan’s surging inflation and plummeting currency have been the biggest challenges to Hamdok’s transitional administration.

Reuters