Yemen's Nobel laureate pleads Sudan PM to withdraw troops

The first Yemeni and Arab woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize has called on Sudan's newly sworn-in civilian prime minister to withdraw troops from Yemen.

Tawakkol Karman made the appeal to Abdalla Hamdok on Thursday, urging the well-known economist to pull Sudanese soldiers out of a Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen.

"This is not your war, continuing your participation will affect the friendly and fraternity relations between our peoples," Karman said.

"It is only appropriate for the new Sudan just to distance itself far away from this war that destroyed and fragmented the Yemeni people,"

She also congratulated Hamdok and the Sudanese people for the first steps in its transition towards civilian rule.

Ousted Sudanese president Omar 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 Shia Iran and join the Saudi-led coalition. 

Bashir admitted to receiving almost $100 million in cash from the Saudi royal family when he appeared in court on corruption charges on Monday.

Thousands of Sudanese mercenaries - including child soldiers - are currently fighting within the Arab coalition's ranks against Houthi rebels. 

The troops have often suffered casualties raising calls of withdrawal from protesters and opposition figures.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in support of the Yemeni government the rebels in 2015.

In April, Sudan's transitional military leaders said the troops would remain in the war-wracked country until the Arab alliance achieves its goals.

A joint civilian-military council, headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has now replaced the transitional military council.