Sudan invited to take part in joint US-Egyptian military exercise

Somewhat surprisingly, Sudan has received an invitation to take part in a joint U.S.-Egyptian military training exercise this October in Egypt, a first for the country in almost thirty years according to the Sudanese Defense Ministry.

General Emad al-Din Adawi announced the invitation to join the Bright Star exercises that will take place in Egypt after he met this week with a U.S. State Department official according to the Ministry. Operation Bright Star takes place every two years and is described by Wikipedia as follows:

Operation Bright Star is held every two years. It is a series of combined and joint training exercises led by United States and Egyptian forces in Egypt. These exercises began in 1980, rooted in the Camp David Accords. It is designed to strengthen ties between the Egyptian Armed Forces and the United States Central Command and demonstrate and enhance the ability of the Americans to reinforce their allies in the Middle East in the event of war. Other allied nations joining Bright Star exercises in Egypt include the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Jordan, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. The exercise begins with coalition interoperability training to teach nations how to operate with one another in a wartime environment, then continues with a Command Post Exercise designed to help standardize command and control procedures, and then a large-scale Field Training Exercise to practice everything together.

The Sudan had been earlier sanctioned by the U.S. for its human rights record as well as other issues. Former president Barack Obama temporarily lifted the sanctions now two decades old for six months in January. However in July, the Trump administration decided to postpone a decision whether to permanently end the trade embargo, freezing of assets and financial sanctions. The president Omar al-Bashir is wanted on genocide charges by the International Criminal Court. In spite of this, he made a recent visit to Morocco.

The U.S. invitation would "open the door to more dialogue" that General Adawi claimed would return U.S. Sudan military relations to the right path. Even if sanctions etc. were permanently ended, Sudan would remain listed by the U.S. as a state sponsor of terrorism. The economy of Sudan has deteriorated since the secession of the south 2011 at three quarters of the oil output is from the former southern region of Sudan.

Aside from the difficulties Sudan has had with the U.S. it also has had problems with Egypt. It recently banned imports of agricultural and animal products from Egypt. President al_Bashir has accused Egyptian intelligence services of supporting opposition figures fighting Sudanese troops in conflict zones such as Darfur. Al-Bashir reported that his troops had captured several Egyptian armoured vehicles fighting in Darfur. He claims that Egyptian intelligence is also helping the opposition in conflicts in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan zones.

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