The Palestinian Authority urged Sudan's government on Saturday to hand over assets it has seized as part of a crackdown targeting Sudan-based operations to fund the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
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Sudan was long an ally of Hamas under former President Omar al-Bashir but since he was overthrown in 2019, Sudanese authorities have taken control of investments and companies they say channeled funding to the Islamist group for years.
On Thursday, a source told Reuters that a Sudanese committee set up to recover public funds after the ouster of autocratic ruler Omar al-Bashir has taken control of the property firm Hassan & Al-Abed, the Al-Bidaya agricultural project, the highrise Paradise Hotel and the Al-Fayha money transfer company.
"They got preferential treatment in tenders, tax forgiveness, and they were allowed to transfer to Hamas and Gaza with no limits," a task force member told Reuters on the condition of anonymity.
An unnamed Sudanese official confirmed the seizures to Israeli broadcaster Kan 11 News, saying that "all" of the Gaza-ruling terror group's assets in the country were confiscated.
Hussein al-Sheikh, a close confidant of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, tweeted on Saturday, "We hope that the sisterly state of Sudan, which has always been with the people of Palestine, both the people and the government, will hand over the movable and immovable funds that were confiscated [from Hamas] to the State of Palestine and its government.
"The Palestinian people are in need of this money, especially our great people under siege in Gaza," he added.
Hamas, the archrival of Abbas' Fatah movement, said on Friday it had no links to companies and individuals targeted by Sudan's crackdown, saying the seized assets belonged to Palestinian investors and businesses.
Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk accused Sheikh of "fishing in troubled waters."
"What happened in #Sudan is a conflict between the civilian and military parts in #Hamdok's government to win US support. A cheap game using the name of the movement as a slander," wrote Abu Marzouk on his Twitter account late on Saturday.
In Khartoum, a senior official in the task force overseeing government-led asset seizures did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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