Sudan says US can play positive role after policy correction

August 21, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan has urged the United States to correct its policies toward Sudan if it was actually willing to improve bilateral relations and play a positive role in finding solutions to the current conflicts in Sudan.

US president special envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration stressed this week in Juba on the need to exempt Southern Sudan from economic sanctions in order to support the south development before referendum.

“What I said was the need to unwind sanctions that hurt development in the South,” he after meetings with the President and Vice President of the semi autonomous region in Juba on Wednesday.

Presidential Adviser Ghazi Salah Al-Deen, who is in charge of the relations with the US, said in a press conference held in Khartoum before the arrival of Scott Gration on Thursday, that “If America wants to play a positive role, it has to correct its policy towards Sudan, but this has not happened so far.”

“The requirements for the normalization of relations between Washington and Khartoum are clear and well-known,” the Sudanese official said, adding that “these requirements should be met by the U.S. side and not by Sudan, and there is no commitment for Sudan to the U.S.”

“If the government came to the conclusion that the dialogue with the US is detriment to its interests and principles it would not continue,” underlined the presidential adviser.

The Sudanese parties, the National Congress Party and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement signed this week an accord to accelerate the implementation of some outstanding issues in the implementation of 2005 peace agreement.

However the tripartite talks with the US envoy failed to reach an agreement over the most important issues pertaining to the fifth census results and the referendum bill.

Sudanese authorities seem now reconsidering their optimism over the improvement of relations with Washington and the possible left of US sanction on Sudan.

Testifying at the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Gration had said that “the consequences of the sanctions that result from that, and other sanctions, are preventing us from doing the development we absolutely need to do.”

“At some point we’re going to have to unwind some of these sanctions so that we can do the very things we need to do,” he said.

Later Gration that his remarks he made to US lawmakers had been misunderstood and that he was only suggesting limited changes to sanctions that would contribute to the development of South Sudan.

(ST)