· The United States has placed a condition for the removal of Sudan from its list of states sponsors of terrorism
· The condition is normalization of diplomatic ties with Israel
The United States has placed a condition for the removal of Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. The condition is normalization of diplomatic ties with Israel as stated by the Sudanese top diplomat Omer Ismail to media. He further added that the proposal was put forward by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his visit to Khartoum in late August linking the normalization of diplomatic ties with Israel and the removal of Sudan from the terror list.
It may be recalled that Mike Pompeo undertook an international tour last month to lure Arab countries to thaw ties with Israel and visit to Sudan was part of the itinerary. The visit followed the deal signed by Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi on August 13.
Explaining Sudan’s position, Ismail said that Sudan which is currently led by a transitional government did not have the authority to take such a decision to normalize ties with Israel. Sudan’s civil government and several Sudanese civil societies have been urging the US to remove Sudan from the list and reverse Sudan’s economic downfall. Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok has been aggressively campaigning for Sudan’s removal from the blacklist, which has prevented the country from accessing international financial support
There have been multiple international efforts in favour of this proposal including the UN and, European Union. After its decision to lift the suspension of the participation of Sudan in the African Union’s activities(AU), AU has been urging concerned countries to lift all economic sanctions on Sudan.
Negotiations are stuck on compensations to families of 17 sailors who were killed during an attack on the USS Cole while it was docked in Yemen’s Aden Port in 2000. The attack was reportedly sponsored by late al Qaeda founder Osama Ben Laden who was living in Sudan prior to the attack.
