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Washington to remove Sudan from state terrorism sponsors list

The decision by Washington could also set in motion steps by Sudan towards establishing diplomatic relations with Israel

President Donald Trump has announced that the United States will remove Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism as soon as Khartoum sets aside US$335 million for payments for American victims of terror and their families.

The deal could also set in motion steps by Sudan towards establishing diplomatic relations with Israel, a US official told Reuters, following similar US-brokered moves in recent weeks by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

The details and timing were still being worked out, the source said.

Although Trump made no mention of Israel in his tweet announcing the breakthrough with Sudan, rapprochement between Israel and another Arab country would give him a new diplomatic achievement as he seeks re-election on 3 November.

Sudan’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism dates back to the time of its toppled dictator Omar el-Bashir, and makes it difficult for its transitional government to access urgently needed debt relief and foreign financing.

Many in Sudan say the designation, imposed in 1993 because the United States believed Bashir’s government was supporting militant groups, is now undeserved, because Bashir was removed last year and Sudan has long co-operated with the United States on counterterrorism.

US-Sudan negotiations have focused on funds that Washington wants Khartoum to deposit in escrow for victims of al-Qaeda attacks on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, Washington sources said.

“GREAT news! New government of Sudan, which is making great progress, agreed to pay $335 MILLION to US terror victims and families,” Trump tweeted. “Once deposited, I will lift Sudan from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. At long last, JUSTICE for the American people and BIG step for Sudan!”

A Sudanese government source said Khartoum was ready to pay compensation to US embassy bombing victims.

Minutes after Trump’s statement, Sudan’s prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok, tweeted: “Thank you so much, President Trump! We very much look forward to your official notification to Congress rescinding the designation of Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism, which has cost Sudan too much.”

Differences remain

A key sticking point in the negotiations was Sudan’s insistence that any announcement of Khartoum’s delisting not be linked explicitly to normalisation with Israel.

Differences remain between Sudanese political and military officials on how far and how fast to go in warming of relations with Israel.

Hamdok told the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, in Khartoum in August that prospects of normalisation should not be linked to Sudan’s removal from the terrorism list.

One possibility, a US official said, would be for Washington first to announce plans for Sudan’s delisting and then leave it to Sudan and Israel to go public later with an agreement on establishing relations.

In September the UAE and its fellow Gulf state Bahrain became the first Arab states in a quarter of a century to sign agreements to relaunch formal ties with Israel, forged largely through shared fears of Iran.

Asked whether an Israel-Sudan breakthrough was imminent, Israel’s finance minister, Israel Katz, told Israel’s Army Radio: “There are contacts, accompanied by the Americans, and there is complexity. I hope that the intensive contacts will yield positive fruit.”

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Source
Reuters
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