Khartoum - A top Sudanese general vowed to back regional ally Saudi Arabia against “all threats and attacks” from Iran during talks with the kingdom’s crown prince, Sudan’s military council said Friday.
General Mohammad Hamdan Dagalo, the deputy chief of Sudan’s transitional military council, met with Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman in Jeddah, the official Saudi Press Agency reported earlier in the day.
“Sudan is standing with the kingdom against all threats and attacks from Iran and Al Houthi militias,” Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti, told the crown prince during their meeting, the council said in a statement.
A Saudi-led military coalition, which includes Sudan, backs an internationally recognised government against the Iran-aligned Al Houthi rebel group in Yemen’s conflict.
Hemedti also said the military council would continue deploying Sudanese troops to Yemen as part of the coalition.
It was Dagalo’s first international trip since Sudan’s army generals took power after they backed protesters in ousting longtime-president Omar Al Bashir last month.
The statement, the council’s first major foreign policy announcement, represents a continuation of the deposed leader’s policy.
Al Bashir deployed troops to Yemen in 2015 as part of a major foreign policy shift that saw Khartoum break its decades-old ties with Iran and switch to supporting Tehran’s main regional rival Saudi Arabia.
“The Sudanese forces will remain in Yemen to defend the security of Saudi Arabia,” Hemedti said, according to the statement.
