Sudan downplays effect of US sanctions renewal

November 4, 2008 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government downplayed the renewal of US sanctions imposed on the East African country since 1997.

The executive order issued by Bush stated that the “the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region posed an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States”.

The spokesperson of the Sudanese foreign ministry Ali Al-Sadek said the decision was to be expected and accused Bush of “trying to win election points”.

“Bush did not put into consideration the recent positive developments by the Sudanese government in resolving the Darfur crisis and cooperating with the international community in this regard” he said.

The executive order went into effect on November 3rd for the duration of one year.

Washington first imposed sanctions on Khartoum in 1997 under former president Bill Clinton because of the North-South war and Sudan’s alleged sponsorship of terrorism.

Despite the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended two decades of civil war in Sudan, the US refused to lift the sanctions because of the humanitarian crisis that erupted in Darfur.

The Bush administration working along with Congress in 2006 & 2007 expanded the sanctions as a result of intensification of the Darfur conflict.

UN experts estimate some 300,000 people have died and 2.5 million driven from their homes. Sudan blames the Western media for exaggerating the conflict and puts the death toll at 10,000.

(ST)