Khartoum, Washington discuss roadmap to normalize ties: report
October 3, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s foreign minister Ibrahim Ghandour disclosed that he has discussed with his American counterpart John Kerry ways to elaborate a road map to normalize ties between Khartoum and Washington during the coming period.
He further said he discussed with Kerry during their meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York issues of common concern as well as investment issues.
Sudan says Washington didn’t honour its pledges to lift Sudan from the United States list of state sponsors of terrorism after the independence of South Sudan and kept sanctions for political reasons.
But Washington says Khartoum has to end the armed conflict in South Darfur and Blue Nile states and to settle Darfur crisis.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Ali al-Sadig said the meeting of the two ministers on Friday was friendly and candid, saying they discussed security and humanitarian situations in Sudan besides the national dialogue and Sudan’s regional efforts.
He told Sudan Tribune on Saturday that Ghandour and Kerry also discussed Sudan’s foreign debts and the impact of the economic sanctions imposed by the US on Sudan, pointing the two sides agreed to continue talks at various levels in order to settle the outstanding issues between the two countries.
After the meeting the two ministers just posed for a picture but didn’t make any press statements.
Following the meeting, the US Department of State said that Kerry “stressed the US’s enduring commitment to end internal conflicts in Sudan” without naming Darfur.
“Washington seeks to achieve permanent peace and a political process involving the largest possible number of the Sudanese people”.
Also, State Department spokesperson John Kirby pointed that Kerry underlined that “there are no military solutions for [Sudan’s internal] conflicts”.
MUTUAL ACCUSATIONS
A head of his meeting with Ghandour, Kerry accused the Sudanese president Omer al-Bashir of supporting the armed opposition in South Sudan.
In an interview with Fox News TV, he said were it not for the eruption of the conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, Washington was about to lift Sudan’s name from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism.
Sudan has been on the US list of countries supporting terrorism since 1993, for allegedly providing support and safe haven for terrorist groups.
Kerry further stressed they have no direct contacts with Bashir, adding “we have contacts with other people within the Sudanese government”.
On the other hand, in an interview with the Russian RT TV broadcasted ahead of his meeting with Kerry, Ghandour accused Washington of creating obstacles to prevent cancellation of Sudan’s foreign debts, saying that Khartoum is facing a unilateral economic sanctions imposed by the US.
He pointed that the US embargo on Sudan prevents all nations and international financial institutions and banks from dealing with Khartoum under the pretext that it sponsors terrorism.
Washington imposed economic and trade sanctions on Sudan in 1997 in response to its alleged connection to terror networks and human rights abuses. In 2007 it strengthened the embargo, citing abuses in Darfur which it labelled as genocide.
Sudan’s top diplomat harshly criticized Washington for barring Sudan from benefiting of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative for political reasons.
He pointed that the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) provided for cancelling Sudan’s external debts following the referendum that led to South Sudan’s secession, saying that the US was among the sponsoring nations of that agreement.
Ghandour added that cancellation of the foreign debts and lifting of the economic sanctions would allow Sudan to utilize its resources and encourages international institutions to finance the sustainable development projects.
Sudan’s external debt is estimated to be around $46 billion. Khartoum says it has completed technical and economic requirements for debt cancellation but observers assert that it is difficult for Sudan to secure it without Western backing.
Sudan’s top diplomat added that Sudan looks forward to seeing a clear international position on the bases of item 30 of the sustainable development document approved in the recent summit in New York which clearly points for lifting unilateral economic sanctions.
GHANDOUR’S MEETING WITH EGYPTIAN COUNTERPART
Meanwhile, Ghandour discussed with his Egyptian counterpart Samih Shokri on the sidelines of the UNGA meeting several issues including the mutual cooperation, the situation in Libya, Syria and South Sudan besides the recent developments pertaining to Ethiopia’s renaissance dam.
Following the meeting, Egypt’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Ahmed Abu Zaid, said the two ministers also discussed Egypt’s bid to secure a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council (UNSC) besides the African issues on the council’s agenda.
He said the two sides stressed the need to provide the necessary political support to the tripartite technical committee to complete the studies regarding the renaissance dam and its possible impact on the downstream countries.
Abu Zaid added that the two ministers agreed to continue coordination and consultations during the coming period particularly with regard to the work of the joint committee between the two nations.
(ST)