U.S. special envoy concludes visit to Sudan, regrets not visiting Darfur
August 30, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – At the end of a five-day visit to Khartoum, the United States Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan, Donald E. Booth, has expressed regret for not being able to visit Darfur, saying he hopes to visit the restive region soon.
“Instead we engaged with leaders of the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), humanitarian actors, and other Darfuri officials on issues of security, inter-communal conflict, and crime, as well as delivery of life-saving assistance, and reconciliation efforts”, he added.
The American envoy didn’t mention the reasons that have prevented him from visiting Darfur and whether the Sudanese authorities refused to allow him to visit the region which has been the scene of a deadly conflict between the government and rebel groups since 2003.
Following his arrival in Khartoum on Tuesday, Booth held talks with Sudan’s foreign minister, Ibrahim Ghandour, on Saturday but a wall of secrecy has been dropped around it.
The American envoy welcomed the government of Sudan’s stated intent to implement a two-month cessation of hostilities and encouraged it “to extend the timeframe and couple it with a negotiated and mutually acceptable mechanism for humanitarian access in order to develop confidence in, and an environment conducive to, an inclusive political dialogue process”.
He further said they will likewise engage opposition actors on these critical issues.
The US envoy pointed they engaged the government of Sudan on the full range of issues that frame the bilateral relationship , adding that the visit also included constructive discussions with civil society representatives, business leaders, political parties, humanitarian actors, and other Sudanese citizens.
He said that discussions with the Sudanese government addressed the need for an open national political dialogue to address the root causes of Sudan’s persistent internal conflicts, and to realize more inclusive governance arrangements.
“We exchanged views on security concerns, protection of civilians, and improving humanitarian access to conflict-affected populations,” he added.
Booth pointed out that discussions also covered economic issues such as Sudan’s outstanding debt, sanctions, and ways of utilizing the important sanctions exemptions that have been granted for the benefit of the Sudanese people.
The American envoy expressed hope to return to Sudan to advance dialogue on issues of mutual interest and concern.
Sudan has been on the U.S. list of states that sponsor terrorism since 1993, even though the two countries have strengthened their counter-terrorism cooperation since the September 2001 attacks on Washington and New York.
Washington also imposed economic and trade sanctions on Sudan in 1997 in response to its alleged connection to terror networks and human rights abuses. In 2007, it strengthened the embargo, citing abuses in Darfur which it says constitutes genocide.
The resumption of dialogue between the two countries come after an agreement reached last February with the then presidential assistant Ibrahim Ghandour on the framework of discussion over normalisation of bilateral relations.
Khartoum in the past said talks should be based on mutual interests and refused Washington’s approach linking between the resolution of internal conflicts and lift of sanctions.
DISCUSSIONS WITH BUSINESSPERSON ON SANCTIONS’ EFFECTS
One of the events that marked the visit was a meeting held on Thursday 27 August by an American technical team accompanying the U.S. special envoy with Sudanese business community to discuss the negative impact of sanctions on the goods exempted from sanctions.
The vice-president of Sudanese Businessmen and Employers Federation (SBEF) Youssef Ahmed Youssef who took part in the workshop told reporters that the meeting comes in line with the dialogue that Sudanese private sector engaged since several years with American embassy to consider ways to relieve them from the impact of the embargo.
“The workshop discussed the complexities inherent to financial and banking transactions in the sectors exempted from the American sanctions, which now impact the banking dealings with Asian and European banks that were dealing with Sudan,” he said.
Sudanese businessmen say that international banks systematically block their transactions because they fear to be prohibited by trade embargoes and sanctions rules. They add that the foreign and even American banks ignore the list of exemptions granted by the OFAC during the past years.
The members of the visiting technical team vowed to exert the necessary efforts to facilitate the implementation of exemptions decided for the benefit of Sudanese people.
In 1997 when the American Administration decide to punish the Sudanese regime for its support of terrorism. The original bill terminated all commercial activities with Sudan but it exempted only one product, Gum Arabic as result of pressures exerted by American industrial groups who wanted to secure their access to this natural product .
Ten years later in 2007 , Washington strengthened the embargo, citing abuses in Darfur which it labelled as genocide. However to ease its negative impact on the ordinary people, the United States Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) since 2010 amended the bill several times and added more exemptions to the list, including agriculture equipment, educational exchange programs and scholarships, personal communications hardware and software including smart phones and laptops.