U.S. affirms Sudan’s cooperation on counter-terrorism efforts for 2014
June 19, 2015 (WASHINGTON) – The United States said that the Sudanese government continued to be a partner in combating terrorism but nonetheless maintained its status as a state sponsor of terrorism and mentioned the existence of certain terrorist groups in the country as well as links between Khartoum and some of these organizations.
“During the past year, the Government of Sudan continued to support counterterrorism operations to counter threats to U.S. interests and personnel in Sudan. Elements of al-Qaida-inspired terrorist groups remained in Sudan” reads the 2014 terrorism report released by the US State Department on Friday.
“The Government of Sudan has taken steps to limit the activities of these elements and has worked to disrupt foreign fighters’ use of Sudan as a logistics base and transit point for terrorists going to Syria and Iraq. However, groups continued to operate in Sudan in 2014 and there continued to be reports of Sudanese nationals participating in terrorist organizations”.
The report also noted that Sudan continued to allow members of the Islamic militant group of Hamas which is control of the Gaza strip to travel, fundraise, and live in Sudan.
“Sudanese officials have welcomed Hamas members to Khartoum, however, and its members are permitted to conduct fundraising in Sudan”.
The report also praised Khartoum’s enforcement of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and international standards to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism activities.
“Sudan continued to cooperate with the United States in investigating financial crimes related to terrorism”.
However no assets were seized or frozen in 2014 as part of these efforts.
“The Sudanese government’s ability to monitor illicit finance flows is increasingly hampered by the Sudanese banking sector’s difficulty finding correspondent banks to process international transactions, leading most Sudanese to instead move money in cash,” the report said in reference to US economic sanctions which restricts access of Sudanese institutions to the US financial system.
Sudan was placed on the US terrorism list in 1993 over allegations it was harboring Islamist militants working against regional and international targets.
The east African country has also been subject to comprehensive economic sanctions since 1997 over terrorism charges and human right abuses. Further sanctions, particularly on weapons, have been imposed since the 2003 outbreak of violence in the western Darfur region.
Despite intense lobbying by Khartoum, the US administration kept Sudan on the terrorism list drawing frustration and rebuke from Sudanese officials.
Last year, an unnamed Sudanese official announced to the official news agency that Khartoum is in the process of reviewing an unheard of anti-terrorism accord it has with the Washington to protest the status of political relations between the two countries.
(ST)