Sudan on Monday officially abolished a decades-old law on boycotting Israel, part of efforts to establish normal ties with the Jewish state, The Associated Press reports.
A bill was approved at a joint meeting of Sudan’s ruling Sovereign Council and Cabinet that annuls the 1958 law. The law had forbidden diplomatic and economic ties with Israel, Justice Minister Nasredeen Abdulbari said in a Twitter post.
The Cabinet approved the bill that repealed the old law earlier this month. The Cabinet also affirmed Sudan’s endorsement of the establishment of an independent Palestinian state as part of a two-state settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Monday’s measure would allow Sudanese to do business with Israelis. It would also allow Sudanese to visit relatives living in in the Jewish state, according t AP.
Under the 1958 law, violators could be punished to up to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay a fine.
Sudan became the third Arab country to normalize ties with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords brokered by the Trump Administration in October, 2020, following the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
The agreement between Israel and Sudan was announced days after then-US President Donald Trump officially removed Sudan from the list of nations that sponsor and finance terrorism.
Last week, it was reported that a Sudanese delegation comprising security and intelligence officials would travel to Israel.
However, two official Sudanese sources said this past Friday that an invitation to visit Israel had been accepted, but that plans had later changed. They gave no explanation for the change.