US mulling over exemption of South Sudan from economic sanctions
Aug 3, 2006 (WASHINGTON) — The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement Secretary General Pagan Amum affirmed that United States is thinking of granting some form of exemption to Southern Sudan from the economic sanctions against Sudan.
In an interview with London based Asharq Alawsat newspaper, Amum said that US administration and the Congress are studying the lift of US economic ban from South Sudan and Nuba Mountains and the Bleu Nile.
The SPLM Secretary General denied that such exemption would lead to the separation of the southern Sudan. He further said that South Sudan according to the current constitution has the right to establish diplomatic relations with other states.
“According to the article 19 of the Interim National Constitution, the Government of Southern Sudan has the right to establish relations with all the governments in the world. One can’t consider the southern Sudan as an autonomous government. Its nature is similar to an independent state” he said.
At the end of first visit of the Sudanese Vice President to Washington in November 2005, the Sudanese Foreign minister Lam Akol denied that Salva Kiir was seeking an exemption for the South while the north will remain subjected to the sanctions.
“In spite of the renewed sanctions, we have succeeded in persuading the US officials to lift the ban on the export to the Sudan of American-made trains and locomotives,” he said at the end of the visit at that time.
But the US Administration which needs the Congress approval for such decision found it difficult to persuade the lawmakers of such decision.
In last June, Commerce, Trade and Supplies Minister in the Government of Southern Sudan, Anthony Lono Makana, after a visit to Washington announced on 7 June 2006 that US would exempt Southern Sudan from the economic sanctions in July 2006.
Makana discussed with US officials, including congressmen, issues that related to the lifting of the trade sanctions on Southern Sudan.
President Omer al-Bashir at the end of july 2006, said that the economic sanctions being imposed by the United States on Sudan represent the biggest threat to the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the unity of the country. He said that the US sanctions are making difficult the establishment of major projects, such as railways to link between the north and the south.
In November 2005, the White House said the sanctions would continue another year because Sudan’s actions and policies “continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”
In 1997, the US Congress passed into law a bill that placed economic sanctions on the Sudan. The sanctions block bilateral trade and prevent U.S.-based firms investing in Sudan.
(ST)