France, Feb. 3 -- Israel expects to fully normalise ties with Sudan later this year after Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen returned from a lightning diplomatic mission to the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

Cohen spoke to reporters on Thursday following a one-day trip to Khartoum that included high-level meetings with military leaders- including Sudan's ruling general, Abdel-Fattah Burhan, who led a coup that overturned the country's transitional government in 2021.

"The agreement is expected to be signed this year and it will be the fourth [such deal]," the Israeli Foreign Minister said, referring to the US-brokered normalisation accords with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco in 2020.

The announcement could help Israe...