Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok on Sunday announced a reduction in the number of Sudanese soldiers engaged in Yemen in the coalition commanded by Saudi Arabia since 2015 to help power against the Houthi rebels.
« Our troops in Yemen at the beginning were 15,000 and now they are down to 5,000, » said Hamdok, who was speaking on his flight to Khartoum following a six-day visit to the states. -United.
This statement by Mr. Hamdok is a first, as the Sudanese authorities have never before publicly mentioned figures regarding the number of Sudanese soldiers present in Yemen at war.
« We believe that the solution in Yemen is political, » said Hamdok, who took office in September in a transitional government following the dismissal of President Omar al-Bashir on 11 April.
The latter, who led the country with an iron fist after taking power in 1989 by a coup, decided to send Sudanese troops to Yemen.
Subsequently, Sudanese casualties during the fighting had prompted calls for the return of troops, while images of dead or wounded Sudanese soldiers were circulating on social networks.
Abdallah Hamdok’s visit coincides with a dramatic warming of relations between the United States and Sudan made possible by the fall of Bashir. On Wednesday, Washington announced its decision to appoint an ambassador to Khartoum for the first time in 23 years.
During his visit, Hamdok, who met with US officials and elected officials, also discussed the possibility of Sudan’s withdrawal from the US black list of « states supporting terrorism » for including hosting the jihadist leader. al-Qaeda network Osama bin Laden.
Negotiations are underway, including on the issue of financial reparations to the families of the victims of the al-Qaida attacks against the United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and the US destroyer USS Cole in 2000.
Sudan has been on the US blacklist since 1993.
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