Bush may ease aid restrictions in Sudan
By Adam Entous
WASHINGTON, May 28 (Reuters) – The Bush administration is prepared to ease U.S. sanctions limiting reconstruction assistance in Sudan if the government implements a peace deal and helps end the crisis in Darfur, congressional aides said on Friday.
The administration has proposed more than $400 million in aid for next year, but existing sanctions prevent U.S. development-dollars from going to government-controlled areas.
If Sudan meets Washington’s conditions, the administration would ease those restrictions and provide the money as part of an international reconstruction package, according to congressional aides briefed by the administration.
As a further inducement to end Africa’s longest running civil war, the administration is dangling the prospect of holding a White House ceremony to mark a peace agreement between the Sudanese government and southern rebels.
The United States has a special interest in oil-rich Sudan because of Khartoum’s record of hosting militant Islamists, including Osama bin Laden in the early 1990s.
Under pressure from Washington, the government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army signed agreements on Wednesday on how to share power and manage disputed strategic areas, lifting the last hurdles to a full peace deal.
On Friday, the government and the two main rebel groups fighting in Darfur agreed to allow international observers to monitor a cease-fire.
Currently, U.S. development money only goes to aid groups working outside government-controlled areas, while U.S. humanitarian assistance, including food aid, can go to government-controlled areas and Darfur.
President George W. Bush’s 2005 budget plan calls for providing $436 million in development and humanitarian aid, a big increase over this year’s total of nearly $250 million.
Congressional aides said next year’s package would include approximately $286 million in development assistance for road-building, health care, education and other projects, in addition to $100 million in food aid.
“If there’s a peace (deal), they’re going to crank up help for infrastructure improvements,” one aide said.
The United States and the United Nations have accused government-backed militias in Darfur of ethnic cleansing in their campaign to crush a revolt from rebels complaining Khartoum has neglected the area.
The fighting has hampered aid deliveries reaching Darfur. The government has also restricted relief, drawing international outrage, especially because there remains little time to fly in aid due to an oncoming rainy season.
Earlier this month, the United States removed Sudan from a blacklist of countries that are uncooperative in its war on terrorism.
The move reflects how far Sudan has come since 1998 when it was considered a haven for terror groups and the United States fired missiles at a factory suspected of housing chemical arms.