UAE for orderly transition in Sudan: Gargash

abu dhabi — The UAE said on Wednesday it supported an “orderly” transition in Sudan where military leaders who toppled veteran president Omar Al Bashir are locked in a standoff with protesters demanding civilian rule.

The UAE, along with Saudi Arabia, had provided an economic lifeline to Bashir’s regime after it broke ranks with Iran in 2016.

Since his ouster, they have pledged $3 billion in financial assistance to Sudan’s new military rulers, as they seek to consolidate relations and prevent any repetition of the chaos of the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011.

“Totally legitimate for Arab states to support an orderly and stable transition in Sudan,” the UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr Anwar Gargash, said on Twitter.

“One that carefully calibrates popular aspirations with institutional stability.

“We have experienced all-out chaos in the region and, sensibly, don’t need more of it,” Dr Gargash said. —

doha — Iran said on Wednesday it hopes to have good relations with Saudi Arabia and its allies, and called for an end to their dispute with Gulf neighbour Qatar.

Riyadh broke off relations with Tehran in 2016 after Iranian protesters torched its diplomatic missions in Iran.

“We have extremely good relations with Qatar, Kuwait, Oman,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said.

“We hope to have the same type of relations with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates,” Zarif told reporters on the sidelines of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue in Doha.

“We also hope that countries within the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) could resolve their differences peacefully.

“We were against pressure on Qatar, we still believe that pressure on Qatar is against international law.”