Sudan officials announce signing of ‘Abraham Accords’ with US

Sudan announced on Wednesday that it signed the “Abraham Accords” with the U.S., setting up the country to formalize ties with Israel.

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said on his website that Justice Minister Nasredeen Abdulbari signed the accord Wednesday with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. 

Securing peace deals between Israel and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa has been a key foreign policy priority of the Trump administration in its waning days. Besides Sudan, the U.S. has helped arrange agreements to normalize ties between Jerusalem and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.

The deals — the first between Israel and any Arab countries since the pact with Jordan in 1994 — have been dubbed the Abraham Accords after the biblical figure honored in both Judaism and Islam.

The U.S. provided a number of financial incentives to move Sudan toward signing the peace deal, including agreeing to settle its debt to the World Bank, a move seen as key to Sudan’s economic recovery following the 2019 coup overthrowing longtime strongman Omar al-Bashir.

The country, which is now overseen by a joint military and civilian government that has adopted a pro-U.S. posture, has been hindered in its efforts to recover its economy by a massive deficit and food and medicine shortages.

To finalize the deal between Israel and Sudan, first announced in October, President Trump also took Sudan off the list of state sponsors of terrorism. However, the pact reportedly faced roadblocks because Sudan was concerned that legislation formally removing it from the list might not pass through Congress.

Passage of “legal peace” remains up in the air in Congress over concerns that victims and the families of victims of terrorism might not be able to pursue claims against Sudan. This includes the 1998 twin bombings on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, carried out by al Qaeda, as well as the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Sudan has been accused of playing roles in the attacks after it hosted Osama bin Laden in the 1990s.