Sudanese Foreign Minister Omar Qamar al-Din Ismail fired Haider Badawi Sadiq, a spokesperson for the Sudanese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday for stating on Tuesday that Israel and Sudan were engaged in normalization talks.

Ismail stated that the government was “astonished” by Sadiq’s remarks that Sudan has had contact with Israel.

“The Foreign Ministry was surprised to see the statements of Ambassador Haider Badawi Sadiq, the ministry’s spokesman, about Sudan’s attempt to establish relations with Israel,” Ismail stated in a press release. “These statements have created an ambiguous situation that needs clarification.”

“The issue of relations with Israel was not discussed in the Foreign Ministry in any way, and Ambassador Haydar Badawi (Sadig) was not tasked to make any statements on the issue.”

Sadiq responded by tweeting that he confirmed normalization talks with Israel due to the statements of Israel’s Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen (Likud) about the matter in an interview with Channel 13 News on Motzei Shabbos. Cohen stated that he expects there will be another peace agreement this year with an African country, probably Sudan.

According to Sadiq, since no senior Sudanese officials denied Cohen’s statements, he concluded that the state is officially espousing normalization ties with Israel.

“The Emirates’ move is a brave and bold step and contributes to putting the Arab world on the right track to build peace in the region and to build sustainable peace,” Sadiq told Reuters via telephone on Tuesday.

“I cannot deny that there are contacts between Sudan and Israel.”

This is not the first time that Sudan-Israel talks were later denied by Sudan. In February, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu‏‏ met the head of Sudan’s transitional government, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, during a trip to Uganda.

Following the meeting, Netanyahu reported that the two had discussed normalization of ties between the two countries but Burhan denied it.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)