The head of the Mossad spy agency reportedly met with a senior Sudanese official in a meeting organized and hosted by the United Arab Emirates, Arabic media reports said Friday.
UAE national security adviser Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan had arranged the sit-down between Yossi Cohen and Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the deputy head of Sudan’s ruling military council and was present for it as well, the Qatari news outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported.
Cohen has been in the UAE to advance last week’s announcement of the US-brokered normalization deal between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi. Analysts have speculated that the agreement will be followed by similar deals between the Zionist entity and other countries in the Arab and Muslim world.
Sources with knowledge of the Cohen-Dagalo meeting told the Arabic-language daily that Sudan’s military council is interested in improving ties with the Zionist entity.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will discuss ties between the Zionist entity and Sudan when he meets with Sudanese leaders during his trip to the African country this week, the State Department said Sunday.
Following a visit to the Zionist entity on Monday, Pompeo is set to visit Sudan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates as the Trump administration seeks to capitalize on momentum from the agreement between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi to establish diplomatic relations.
Earlier last week, Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen told the Kan public broadcaster that official ties could be inked between ‘Israel’ and Sudan by the end of the year.
Asked for comment on the matter, Sudan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Haidar Badawi Sadiq told Sky News Arabia that Khartoum “aspires towards a peace agreement with Israel… a relationship of equals built upon Khartoum’s interests.”
But hours later Sudan’s acting foreign minister denied knowledge of peace talks with the Zionist entity, and said Sadiq had not been authorized to comment on the issue. The spokesman was fired for the comments on Wednesday, but said afterward that he did not regret making them.
Source: Israeli media
