Sudan says it has signed US ‘Abraham Accords’ in major step to become latest Arab nation normalizing ties with Israel

6 Jan, 2021 14:51

The US and Sudan have signed an agreement known as the ‘Abraham Accords’, paving the way for the East African state to normalize ties with Israel. The move marks a continuation of US deal-making in the Middle East.

Sudan's Justice Minister Nasredeen Abdulbari inked the deal with visiting US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, according to a statement from the office of Sudan's prime minister on Wednesday.

As part of the deal, the US agreed with Sudan that it would settle its debt to the World Bank, which it accrued under the leadership of its former dictator of 30 years, Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted in a 2019 coup.

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Abraham Accords were originally signed at the White House in September 2020 between the US, Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, and were later modified to include Morocco.

Sudan's official inclusion in the agreement is the latest in a series of deals brokered by US President Donald Trump between Israel and majority-Muslim countries.

It also follows Washington's official removal of the East African nation from its ‘state sponsor of terrorism’ list in mid-December, ending the 27-year-long classification over Sudan's alleged support for Islamist militants.

Mnuchin landed in Khartoum on Wednesday for the first official visit of a sitting US treasury secretary to Sudan, a day after his meeting with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisim in Cairo.

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