Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Youssef Al-Sharif affirmed that his country will not build its relationship with America at the expense of the Palestinians, referring to media leaks about an American-Israeli request to resettle Palestinians from Gaza in Sudan. Al-Sharif also addressed internal issues, most notably the parallel “Rapid Support Forces” government, confirming that it was stillborn.
Regarding these leaks, Al-Sharif told Al Jazeera Net, “We have not been contacted about the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank to Sudan, and this issue has not been raised in official meetings. Sudan’s position is what was expressed during its participation in the Arab Summit in Cairo on April 4, where the idea of displacement was rejected and a plan for the reconstruction of Gaza was put in place. Sudan participated in developing and approving this plan.” He added, “From Cairo, delegations moved to Jeddah to attend meetings of foreign ministers of Islamic countries, and the same position was taken to reject displacement, and the Islamic Conference adopted a plan to develop and reconstruct Gaza.”
He explained that “Sudan’s position is based on popular and governmental stance, which is that Sudan does not agree to the displacement of Palestinians from their land, and believes that they have the right to have their independent state within the 1967 borders, as stipulated by international legitimacy resolutions.”
He continued, “Relations between countries are based on their mutual interests, and we have interests on which the relationship with Washington can be built, and these interests do not include displacing Palestinians from their country to another state.”
He added, “We do not build our relationship with America at the expense of the Palestinians or at the expense of any other issue, but rather on the basis of our interests. We have begun communication where the head of the Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, congratulated US President Donald Trump immediately after his victory, and I sent a message to the new Secretary of State congratulating him as well, and we hoped that communication between us would take place and put some points we need on the letters.”
Regarding internal files, Al-Sharif spoke about the possibility of forming a parallel government by the “Rapid Support Forces” and its allied forces, saying: “What the ‘Rapid Support Forces’ militia and its supporting parties have done is a desperate attempt to compensate for two things. First, the overwhelming victories achieved by the Sudanese Armed Forces, joint forces, and the supporting force of mobilized individuals and popular resistance, and the position of the Sudanese people against the rebel militia and those who support them. This is the main motive. Second, they felt that there is continued support for the positions of the Sudanese state and government on issues raised in various regional and international institutions, so they wanted to create a mechanism to stand in front of this progress. Unfortunately, they tried to do something that we in the state only completely rejected, and this rejection was supported by many countries.”
Regarding the chances of the parallel government in light of similar models in the region such as Libya, he considered that “these are completely different models, and I don’t think they can be built upon. Sudan is still a unified state, and all countries and organizations strongly stand with its territorial unity and sovereignty over it, and with support for the Sudanese Armed Forces as the most important national institutions for the entire state, in addition to other institutions.”
He considered that the parallel government was stillborn, explaining: “If all the countries that spoke and expressed their objection to this idea said they would not recognize a parallel government, how can there be life? Recognition is the oxygen of life for organizations and states, and if states do not recognize a government, it has no existence.”
Al-Sharif also discussed efforts to prevent international and African acceptance of the parallel government, relations with South Sudan, improving ties with Europe, and maintaining balanced relationships with both Russia and the United States. He emphasized that Sudan’s foreign policy is independent and based on mutual interests, not at the expense of relations with other countries
