Russia plans to have naval base in Sudan

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Russia and Sudan have drafted a bilateral agreement that would allow for a Russian naval logistics base in Sudan, Radio Free Europe reported Thursday. The Sudanese are top importers of Russian arms in Africa, and Russia has economic and geopolitical interests in oil and minerals-rich Sudan.

The agreement providing for a naval base was published on a Russian government website on Wednesday. Such a base would boost Russia’s influence in northeast Africa on major shipping routes in the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait, RFE said.

The base would be used to repair warships and for naval crews to rest. Up to 300 crew and four warships, including ships with nuclear-propulsion systems, will be allowed to stay at the base at one time.

According to the agreement, Russia will deliver weapons and military hardware to Sudan free of charge so as to maintain air-defense of the Sudanese naval facility at Port Sudan, where the Russian base is expected to be, RFE reports.

Last month, and following the ousting last year of Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir, the US announced it intends to take Sudan off its list of state sponsors of terrorism. Last month, too, Sudan signed a US-brokered normalization agreement with Israel.

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