Dagalo: 90% of Sudanese People Support Normalization with Israel

The vice president of Sudan's Sovereign Council (SSC) Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, popularly known as Hemedti affirmed on Tuesday that 90% of the Sudanese people support normalization with Israel.

In an exclusive interview with "Middle East News Agency" (MENA), Dagalo added, "Sudan's historical position on the Palestinian issue does not prevent it from establishing normal diplomatic ties with Israel," describing the boycott weapon as "of no value, and no one benefited from it."

Moreover, he asserted that his country "has not been subjected to any blackmail from the US to normalize ties with Israel," noting that "this option was the choice of the Sudanese."

The Vice President of SSC also pointed out that, the "Three Nos" launched by the Arab summit conference in Khartoum in 1967, “No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, and no negotiations with Israel", did not help Sudan.

"We have suffered from international isolation for more than 27 years, due to our inclusion on the American terrorism list ... Therefore, we are seeking to establish relations with all world states, including Israel," Dagalo said, "Israel is part of the world, and normalizing ties with it will bring a lot of benefits to Sudan."

Concerning the war in Darfur, Dagalo said that it was a rebellion against the state, adding that the state is responsible for the crimes that have been committed.

Regarding demonstrations in Sudan, Hemedti revealed that he refused the request of ousted President Omar Al-Bashir to kill the protesters, saying, "I told him clearly, the Rapid Support Forces will not open fire on demonstrators."

"The isolated regime was planning hideous and widespread killing operations, Thus, we called in the Rapid Support Forces to protect the demonstrators," he continued.

As for his meeting with the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, during her visit to Sudan, Dagalo said: "I spoke with her about achieving justice for the victims of Darfur, but she did not request the extradition of the wanted persons with criminal arrest warrants."