Sunset view of Khartoum, Sudan
Sunset view of Khartoum, SudaniStock

An Israeli security delegation secretly visited Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, this week and met military officials led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Kan 11 News reported on Friday, citing Sudanese officials.

There have been at least two reports of Israeli delegations visiting Sudan since the military coup in the country last October.

Burhan said recently that the meetings between Sudanese and Israeli officials were part of security and intelligence cooperation, and not political in nature.

All visits by Sudanese officials to Israel "carried out by intelligence and security agencies… enabled us to foil terrorist cells in Sudan," Burhan said, stressing no senior political officials were part of any delegation to Israel.

He called the visits "legitimate" and said the security cooperation "serves the interests of the country," and helps keeping Sudan and the region safe.

Sudan became the third Arab country to normalize ties with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords brokered by the Trump Administration in October of 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.

However, despite the agreement, no steps for full normalization between Israel and Sudan have taken place as of yet.

In September, Sudan's Foreign Minister, Mariam Sadiq Al Mahdi, played down the normalization agreement between her country and Israel, telling The National in an interview that Israel will not be opening an embassy in Khartoum any time soon.

(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)