Sudan regrets renewed US sanctions
Nov 3, 2005 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese charge d’affaires to Washington, Ambassador Khidir Haroun, has expressed his regret that the US Administration extended by a year the trade and economic sanctions it imposed on Sudan and said the decision was unjustified.
US President George W. Bush has extended for one year sanctions against Sudan, a country the United States considers a sponsor of terrorism, the White House announced in a statement Tuesday.
In a press statement to the state-run SUNA, Haroun said all the reasons on which Washington had relied in the past to impose the sanctions had been completely eliminated pointing out that the decision to extend the sanctions had not taken this into consideration.
Haroun said the reasons included the civil war in southern Sudan and the issue of human rights and since then a peace agreement had been signed, a Government of National Unity formed and the SPLM leader had been nominated first vice president, which was the highest position in the government.
The other reasons, Haroun said, included accusations of Sudan shaking the regions’ stability. He explained that these accusations were no longer valid since Sudan at present enjoyed cordial relations with all the countries in the region.
As for accusations of sponsoring terrorism, Haroun said the latest annual report issued by the US Administration pointed out that Sudan was fully cooperating with the international community in fighting terrorism.
He said the Darfur issue was not included in the reasons for the sanctions, as the crisis was not there at the time :”Sudan is fully cooperating with the international community, the AU and the USA in order to reach a peaceful solution to the Darfur issue”, he said, adding that the government was fully committed to the Abuja talks.
(ST)