Obama offers Sudan’s removal from “terrorism sponsor” list by July 2011

November 7, 2010 (WASHINGTON) – Sudan can find itself off the list of states that sponsor terrorism as early as July 2011 should it facilitate the self-determination votes in Abyei and South Sudan and recognize their outcome, senior U.S. officials said today.

The offer was carried by chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee John Kerry who began a visit to Khartoum last Friday and met with senior officials there including 2nd Vice President Ali Osman Taha.

Sudan was designated as a state sponsor of terrorism in 1993, but in its latest reports, the U.S. State department described Sudan as “a co-operative partner in global counterterrorism efforts”.

U.S. media unveiled in recent years details of close cooperation between Khartoum and Washington in regions like the Horn of Africa and Iraq. The Sudanese government acknowledged the work on terrorism issues but complained that it has not received the reward it was promised for that.

General Scott Gration, the U.S. special envoy for Sudan, told lawmakers last year he did not know of any intelligence to justify Sudan remaining on the list of “state sponsors of terrorism,” a designation accompanied by sanctions and restrictions on aid.

The ‘Politico’ magazine quoted unnamed senior U.S. officials as saying that president Barack Obama attached several conditions to the offer including that Khartoum facilitate the conduct of a transparent and on-time referendum on the status of Southern Sudan and respecting its result.

Additionally, Khartoum must implement “all appropriate post-referendum agreements – related to border agreements, currency, citizenship and other matters,” to fulfill U.S. conditions to be considered for accelerated removal from the state terror sponsor list, the official said.

The administration proposal Kerry carried to Khartoum “decouples the state sponsor of terrorism issue from Darfur,” a second senior U.S. official said Sunday. “But doing this in no way undermines the importance of the resolution of humanitarian and political problems that have plagued Darfur for the last decade. The comprehensive sanctions that have been in place [on Sudan] since 2003 and 2004 remain in place until we see a resolution of the Darfur crisis.”

Obama’s offer moves up by at least six months the date by which Khartoum might come off the list. But the U.S. officials emphasized a final decision would still be contingent on Sudan halting all sponsorship of terrorism for at least six months before the July 2011 target date and pledging not to resume such assistance in the future.

Preparations for the key votes in South Sudan and Abyei have proceeded haltingly amid political and logistical obstacles, and the southerners have accused the northerners of stalling, warning of violence if the referendum is delayed. ?

Furthermore, it is all but certain that the Abyei referendum will be delayed as the commission to oversee it has not been established yet. Northern officials have publicly asserted that the disputed border area will not have its vote held as scheduled as issues of border demarcation and eligibility of voters have yet to be resolved.

The South Sudan referendum commission (SSRC) is reportedly in disarray over the “autocratic” leadership style of its chairman Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil. This week the spokesperson for the commission resigned citing disagreement with Khalil and called for delaying the vote. Furthermore, the SSRC’s Secretary General Al- Nijoumi who also shares similar grudges against the chairman has sought to quit as well but was convinced to stay.

On Sunday, the head of the training unit at the Southern Sudan Referendum Bureau (SSRB) in Juba told Sudan Tribune he resigned over what he described as a ” poor working relationship” between the members Chan Reec Madut who heads the bureau.

U.S. senator Kerry said that “Sudan now has the opportunity to define itself for the world and create a better, more peaceful, and more prosperous future for all the Sudanese people”.

“President Obama made clear in the proposal conveyed this weekend that if Sudan’s leaders take concrete steps to implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, including recognizing the results of the referendum in January, he is prepared to immediately take significant steps to begin to transform the bilateral relationship. This would be the beginning of a new roadmap for addressing key bilateral issues as post-referendum issues are resolved,” he added.

The ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in North and Sudan people Liberation Movement (SPLM) in South have yet to agree on contentious post-referendum arrangements for South Sudan including border demarcation, wealth sharing, water, citizenship and national debt. All these issues are considered extremely thorny and it is not clear what is the status of discussions between the two sides on these items.

Obama’s carrots to Khartoum may include more than just getting of the terrorism list. On Saturday Kerry met with Sudanese minister of Finance and National Economy, Ali Mahmood Hassanein to discuss the country’s $35.7 billion debt and ways to get a relief.

Sudan state media said that the US Senator promised the establishment of a committee comprising the Sudanese and US sides to deliberate and arrive at a resolution to Sudan’s foreign debts.

A well-placed source in Khartoum told Sudan Tribune on Friday that Western diplomats in the capital believe that Kerry may also offer U.S. support for deferring the arrest warrant against Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir through the UN Security Council for one year that can be renewed indefinitely.

But U.S. officials today emphasized that separate U.S. sanctions imposed over Darfur — which Obama extended for another year on Nov. 1 — would remain until Khartoum improved conditions in the region, where the United Nations estimates up to 300,000 people died following a revolt in 2003, they said.

“Those … sanctions remain in place and they are the ones that have a significant effect on Sudan’s economy and on the government of Sudan itself,” said another official, who added that future steps such as debt relief and an exchange of ambassadors would all depend upon progress in Darfur.

(ST)