US moves to ease arms embargo against Sudan, hints Libya may be next
By Matthew Lee
WASHINGTON, May 18 (AFP) — The United States took a small step toward easing an arms embargo against Sudan despite its intense criticism of Khartoum over the crisis in Darfur and growing frustration at repeated delays in signing a peace deal with southern rebels.
Secretary of State Colin Powell removed Sudan from a blacklist of countries deemed not to be cooperating fully with US anti-terrorism efforts and, at the same time, hinted strongly that Libya — which has vastly improved ties with the United States since renouncing weapons of mass destruction programs — could be next.
However, Powell’s determinations, which were published in the Federal Register, are only symbolic in nature as both Sudan and Libya remain on the State Department’s list of “state sponsors of terrorism,” inclusion on which also bans arms sales as well as mandating other, broader sanctions, US officials said.
“This basically strips away one layer of the sanctions onion for Sudan and says that that layer could be removed for Libya,” one official said. “It doesn’t green-light anything for either of them. They would have to come off the state sponsors list for that to happen.”
But a second official said Sudan’s removal from the list — which would lift a ban on the sale of military equipment covered by the US Arms Export Control Act in the absence of other sanctions — was an administrative tool that Washington hoped might convince Khartoum to deal with the situation in Darfur and quickly cement a peace pact with the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).
“It’s a very small carrot, a gesture of goodwill,” the official said, noting that US President George W. Bush and Powell have both pledged to reward Sudan by easing sanctions if the two issues are resolved.
Washington has been highly critical of Khartoum for the actions of pro-government militias in the western region of Darfur where a year-old conflict has killed some 10,000 people, uprooted a million more and is now in the midst of what the United Nations says is the worst current humanitarian crisis in the world.
The United States has also expressed extreme impatience at the slow progress Khartoum and the SPLA have been making on the deal to end Africa’s longest running civil war. A settlement remains unsigned despite repeated pronouncements over past weeks that an agreement is imminent.
In the Federal Register notice, Powell did not explain his decision to remove Sudan from the list.
Instead, he struck the country without comment while renewing the non-cooperative status of Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria and Libya, all of which are also on the “state sponsors of terrorism” list along with Sudan.
However, in a nod to the rapprochement between Washington and Tripoli, Powell stressed that the United States was actively reviewing Libya’s status as an uncooperative state in the US-led war on terrorism.
“I hereby notify that the decision to retain Libya on the list of countries not fully cooperating with US antiterrorism efforts comes in the context of an on-going and comprehensive review of Libya’s record of support for terrorism,” he wrote in the notice.
“While this process is not complete, Libya has taken significant steps to repudiate its past support for terrorism,” Powell said, adding that when the review was finished, he would consult with US lawmakers about Tripoli’s record.
Earlier this month, Bush lifted US economic and trade sanctions on Libya in response to Tripoli following through on its December vow to abandon the development of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and its settlement of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing case.
At the time, Bush said Libya would remain subject to terrorism-related sanctions until it met legal requirements for the penalties to be lifted.