http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/02/sudan-qatar-idUSL5N0MU35G20140402
UPDATE 2-Sudan says Qatar to deposit $1 bln as part of aid package
Wed Apr 2, 2014 12:18pm EDT
(Reuters) - Qatar will deposit $1 billion at Sudan's central bank, Khartoum said on Wednesday, announcing an aid package to Sudan's Islamist government that is likely to worsen Doha's already tense relations with Egypt.
The announcement by Finance Minister Badr El-Din Mahmoud came at the end of a visit to Khartoum by Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, whose backing for the Muslim Brotherhood has frayed ties with Egypt and Gulf states that support the army-backed government in Cairo, including Saudi Arabia.
Mahmoud, speaking at Khartoum airport, said Qatar also planned to invest in large agricultural and energy projects in Sudan, whose economy has suffered since South Sudan broke away in 2011, taking with it much of Khartoum's oil fields.
"Sudan realised big economic gains from the visit of the Emir of Qatar today," he said.
Mahmoud said the deposit was the second part of an aid package but declined to give details of the first part. Sudan is vital to Egyptian interests because of its location upstream on the river Nile.
In a written statement, Sheikh Tamim said his visit "comes to confirm the two countries' desire for continued dialogue and coordination on issues of mutual interest".
Egypt has accused Qatar of meddling in its internal affairs and supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist movement that was ejected from power by the army last year after mass protests against President Mohamed Mursi's rule.
Cedric Barnes, Horn of Africa project director at the International Crisis Group, said the Qatari aid marked an extension of Doha's long-standing support for the government in Khartoum and was an effort to prop up one of the last remaining "bulwarks of Brotherhood-style leadership in the region".
The Brotherhood has long been viewed with suspicion by most Gulf states. Qatar's backing for the Islamists has strained its ties with other Gulf states.
On March 5, in an unprecedented move, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain recalled their ambassadors from Qatar, accusing Doha of failing to abide by an accord not to interfere in each others' internal affairs. Qatar denies the charge. (Reporting by Khaled Abdel Aziz; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by John Stonestreet and Sonya Hepinstall)
http://www.yourmiddleeast.com/news/qatar-emir-visits-sudan-at-time-of-gulf-tensions_22657
Ian Timberlake, AFP
Last updated: April 2, 2014
Qatar emir visits Sudan at time of Gulf tensions
Qatar's emir held talks in Sudan on Wednesday at a time of strained ties with his country's Gulf neighbours over its perceived support for the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood.
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani was greeted at Khartoum airport by Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, for what an analyst called a meeting of two regionally-isolated regimes.
The leaders held talks at a conference centre along the Blue Nile before Sheikh Tamim left Khartoum after a visit of around three hours.
His stop coincided with unprecedented tensions between Doha and other Gulf states over the widely-banned Muslim Brotherhood.
The Sudanese regime, which took power 25 years ago in an Islamist-backed coup, is essentially based on support from the Brotherhood, said Safwat Fanous, a political scientist at the University of Khartoum.
He told AFP that the emir’s visit appears aimed to “break the isolation” of Qatar from its Gulf neighbours and Egypt.
Sheikh Tamim, in a written statement, said his trip would confirm the "continuous joint consultations" between the two countries on regional developments.
The visit also aimed to support "brotherly relations" between people of both nations, he said.
Qatar has been a key backer of Sudan’s government, which is “in desperate need of foreign direct investment”, said Khalid Tigani, chief editor of the Elaff economic weekly.
After the emir's departure, Sudan's Finance Minister Badraldin Mahmoud Abbas told reporters that Qatar will provide Sudan with $1 billion to help boost its reserves of hard currency.
Terms of the arrangement were not disclosed.
Qatar also agreed to finance energy and agricultural projects, Abbas said, describing the investments as "huge".
South Sudan separated in 2011, taking with it the majority of Sudan's oil production, which accounted for billions of dollars in export earnings.
Since then the Sudanese pound has plunged in value on the black market and inflation has soared.
Diplomatic and other sources said last month that major European and Saudi banks had stopped dealing with Sudan, adding to the sanctions-hit state’s isolation and further straining its cash-starved economy.
Khartoum says the banks are under increased pressure from the United States, which has a 17-year-old trade embargo against Sudan.
Ties between Doha and Khartoum, meanwhile, "are witnessing rapid progress," foreign ministry spokesman Abubakr al-Siddiq said, quoted by the official SUNA news agency.
Sudanese officials last month said Qatar was providing an unprecedented $135 million to support Sudan's rich but under-developed archaeological heritage.
Qatar also hosted talks which led to the 2011 Doha Document for Peace in Darfur between Khartoum and rebel splinter groups in the western region of Sudan, where violence has worsened this year.
“This agreement didn’t bring peace to Darfur,” said Fanous of the University of Khartoum. “I think the Qatar role in Darfur is shrinking.”
In early March, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain recalled their ambassadors from Qatar, a fellow Gulf Cooperation Council member.
Doha supported Egypt's Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, a former Brotherhood leader, while most Gulf countries hailed Morsi's overthrow by the army last July and pledged billions of dollars in aid.
Before his ouster as president, Morsi made what Bashir's regime called a "historic" visit to Khartoum.
Morsi and Sheikh Tamim are among the rare heads of state to visit Sudan, whose leader Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for alleged war crimes in Darfur.
Received on Wed Apr 02 2014 - 13:16:55 EDT