Sudan

31 Oct 2020; MEMO: A Sudanese artist has refused the French Republic’s Medal of Arts and Letters due to the recent insulting cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

The official Sudanese News Agency (SUNA) reported on Wednesday that “the plastic artist Kamala Ibrahim Ishaq refused the French Republic’s Order of Arts and Letters, as a result of the issue of the offensive caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.”

30 Oct 2020; MEMO: Sudan’s transitional government has stripped thousands of foreigners, including Syrians, from their naturalised Sudanese citizenship, Erm News reported yesterday.

In an official statement, the government said that the foreigners had acquired the Sudanese nationality in “illegitimate ways during the era of the ousted President Omar Al-Bashir.”

26 Oct 2020; MEMO: Protests continued for the fourth consecutive day in the Sudanese capital Khartoum yesterday after a protester was killed last week.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors announced the killing of Mohammed Abdul Majeed and the wounding of 14 others during demonstrations being held to “reform the path” of the revolution.

23 Oct 2020; MEMO: Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok is ready to proceed with normalizing relations with Israel once a yet-to-be-formed transitional parliament has approved the step, two Sudanese government sources told Reuters on Thursday.

The comments are the clearest sign that Hamdok, under pressure from the United States, is willing to contemplate Sudan establishing ties with former adversary Israel, Reuters reports.

21 Oct 2020; MEMO: A senior Sudanese army officer announced on Tuesday that a coup attempt by retired officers and members of the Popular Defence Forces (PDF) was thwarted last week, Anadolu has reported. No official comment on this has been issued by the government in Khartoum as of the time of writing.

21 Oct 2020; MEMO: Sudan’s Acting Minister of Finance and Economic Planning has said that the country’s removal from the US list of “countries supporting terrorism” is because it paid compensation to the families of US citizens who were killed in Africa in 1998, and not any promise to normalise relations with Israel.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - An International Criminal Court delegation is to visit Sudan to discuss the cases of ousted president Omar al-Bashir and other former officials, the government said on Saturday.

The delegation, led by prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, would discuss “cooperation” with Sudan over the wanted men, without naming them, according to the statement. It is the first visit by the court since Bashir was ousted last year.

17 Oct 2020; MEMO: Sudanese businessman Abu Al-Qasim Bortom is preparing a controversial trip to Israel, accompanied by 40 Sudanese citizens from different social backgrounds, in order to accelerate the normalisation process.

KHARTOUM, Oct 8 (NNN-SUNA) – Local authorities in eastern Sudan’s Red Sea State, on Wednesday announced, the resumption of work at the major port, after two days of closure by protesters.

“The Sea Ports Corporation resumed work at Port-Sudan’s southern harbour today (yesterday),” said Abdullah Shangarai, Red Sae State Governor, in a statement.

04 Oct 2020; MEMO: An Israeli newspaper has reported that Sudan and Oman have postponed normalising ties with Israel until after the US elections, Rai Al-Youm reported on Friday.

Reporting Israeli newspaper Maariv, Rai Al-Youm disclosed that the two Arab countries would not offer their “precious gifts” to US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before the US elections.