U.S. sanctions aimed at striking Sudan’s economy – Bashir

May 31, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir has stressed that the U.S. sanctions on Sudan were aimed at striking the economy in this African country, Sudan’s Alwan daily reported on Thursday.

“The American sanctions are aimed at striking and destroying Sudan’s economy,” the Sudanese president was quoted as saying.

Al-Bashir made the remarks during a meeting with visiting delegation of U.S. businesspersons, according to the report.

This was the first comment of Sudanese president on the Tuesday announcement by U.S. President George W. Bush on new sanctions on Sudan.

He said that the continuous U.S. pressures on his country, and Bush’s repeated threats of imposing sanctions on Sudan, were attempts of “covering and hiding the crimes of the United States in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine”.

The Sudanese president noted that the U.S. sanctions would affect directly the life of thousands of Sudanese families who were relying on the companies which had been named in the new U.S. sanction measures.

He denied any relations between those companies and the current crisis in the western Sudanese region of Darfur, adding that all these companies were agricultural ones or sugar factories.

“Imposing sanctions on Sudan will complicate the situation and create more security disturbances and humanitarian tragedies in this country,” the Sudanese president said.

U.S. President Bush announced on Tuesday that the U.S. Treasury Department would step up efforts to squeeze the Sudanese economy by targeting government-run ventures involved with its booming oil business, which does many of its transactions in U.S. dollars.

According to the decision, three Sudanese individuals, including two high-ranking government officials and a rebel leader, as well as 30 Sudanese companies owned or controlled by the government were blocked from transacting or doing business with the U.S. companies.

(Xinhua)