Sudan’s Bashir heads to Saudi Arabia for official visit

By Mohamed al-Khatam

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AA) - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir headed to Saudi Arabia on Monday amid praise by Khartoum for Gulf mediation efforts that led to the lifting of U.S. economic sanctions on Sudan, Sudan’s official SUNA news agency reported.

"Al-Bashir will meet Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud to discuss bilateral ties and recent developments in the region," SUNA quoted Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour as saying.

While in Saudi Arabia, al-Bashir is also slated to meet with a number of other Saudi officials, according to the news agency.

Sudanese officials, for their part, have praised mediation efforts by the Gulf States between Khartoum and Washington -- efforts they say contributed to the latter’s recent decision to lift economic sanctions imposed on Sudan since 1997.

Over the last two years, Sudan has emerged as a close ally of the Gulf States following years of tension caused by Khartoum's increasing proximity to Iran.

Since 2014, Sudan has taken a number of steps to curtail its relations with Iran, culminating in a decision early last year -- following Riyadh’s lead -- to sever diplomatic ties with the Shia Islamic republic.

Since mid-2015, Sudan has been a member of a Saudi-led Arab military coalition established to combat Yemen’s Iran-backed Shia Houthi group and support Yemen’s embattled Saudi-backed government.

On Jan. 13, former U.S. President Barack Obama ordered the lifting of economic sanctions on Sudan, while maintaining longstanding military sanctions on the country and keeping it on Washington’s list of alleged sponsors of terrorism.

According to the White House, Obama’s executive order is set to take effect in July. However, the U.S. State Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) allowed the resumption of financial and commercial transactions with Sudan as of last week.