Sudan Sovereign Council Head On First Official Visit To Qatar Since Appointment - Reports

The head of Sudan's Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, arrived on Wednesday in the Qatari capital of Doha, on his first official visit to the Gulf state since his appointment as the council's chairman in August 2019, official QNA news agency reported

DOHA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th April, 2021) The head of Sudan's Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, arrived on Wednesday in the Qatari capital of Doha, on his first official visit to the Gulf state since his appointment as the council's chairman in August 2019, official QNA news agency reported.

Al-Burhan is set to meet with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Thursday to discuss bilateral relations and ways to strengthen them, as well as a number of issues of common interest, according to the news outlet.

Sudan's delegation also includes Defense Minister Yassin Ibrahim Yassin and Finance Minister Jibril Ibrahim. According to the agency, Yassin has already met with Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defense Affairs Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah.

Sudan and Qatar had strong ties during the reign of former Sudanese leader Omar Bashir, with Doha making extensive investments in the African nation, particularly in agriculture, in an effort to meet the needs of Qatar's National food Security Programme.

However, relations deteriorated after Sudan's refusal to allow a plane carrying a Qatari delegation led by its foreign minister to land in the spring of 2019, following the ouster of Bashir Sudan's leader of three decades. The Sudanese authorities later explained such circumstances by an information gap on the matter.

This January, the council's first vice president, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, paid an official visit to Doha, which became the first among the Sudanese leadership since the overthrow of Bashir.