SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Al-Midan – The Hidden Market

3/2/2021: Al-Midan – The Hidden Market, by Madiha Abdallah

 Arguing that over 80% of Sudan’s money is circulating outside of authorised bodies, Madiha Abdallah, the editor of the Communist Party’s al-Midan newspaper, calls for Prime Minister Hamdok to adopt a more confrontational approach to the “secret causes of the economic crisis”.

Practical steps suggested by Abdallah include: exposing all the economic institutions and interest networks associated with the mechanisms of the hidden market, alongside the sidelining by some government bodies of government revenue, as well as countering tax evasions, smuggling and foreign exchange brokers.

Abdallah concludes that “confrontation should include the naming of those interest groups, most of which had been built during the rule of darkness of the defunct regime.”

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: AP - Israeli PM meets Sudan’s leader, aims for ‘normalization'

3/2/2020: AP - Israeli PM meets Sudan’s leader, aims for ‘normalization’, by Rodney Muhumuza and Joseph Krauss

 AP provide some background information on the meeting in Uganda between the head of the Sudanese sovereign council, Abdelfattah al-Burhan, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

An anonymous senior Sudanese military official told AP that the meeting was orchestrated by the United Arab Emirates and aimed at helping to remove Sudan’s state sponsor of terrorism designation.  

The official added that only a “small circle” of top officials in Sudan, as well as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, knew about the meeting.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Bloomberg - Sudanese Leader Backs Recognizing Israel in Historic Shift

3/2/2020: Bloomberg - Sudanese Leader Backs Recognizing Israel in Historic Shift, by  Ivan Levingston and Fred Ojambo

Bloomberg’s report on Sudanese military leader Abdelfattah al-Burhan’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the agreement to work toward normalising relations, provides background information on Sudan-Israel relations

Recognising Israel, a key US ally, could help Sudan’s campaign to persuade Washington to remove it from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. The initiative may also be a boost for Netanyahu’s re-election bid, allowing him to tout a diplomatic victory ahead of the March 2 vote.

In Sudan, the was move met with condemnation across the political spectrum – from Communists to Islamists.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Reuters - Israel and Sudan will push to normalise relations - Israeli officials

3/2/2020: Reuters - Israel and Sudan will push to normalise relations - Israeli officials

Reuters reports that Sudan and Israel have agreed to move towards forging normal relations for the first time, Israeli officials said, after their respective leaders met in Uganda.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had two hours of talks with Abdelfattah al-Burhan, head of Sudan’s sovereign council.

Sudan’s information minister and government spokesman, Faisal Salih, told Reuters he had no information about the visit and that the cabinet had not discussed it. Officials would wait for “clarifications” on al-Burhan’s return, Salih later added.

An Israeli statement said al-Burhan “is interested in helping his country go through a modernisation process by removing it from isolation and placing it on the world map”.