Calls to drop Sudan from U.S. terror list

September 24, 2019 (KHARTOUM) – Two Arab leaders and the former U.S. President Jimmy Carter Tuesday have called on the Trump administration to remove Sudan from its terror list to allow international support for its fragile transitional government.

In their speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the Emir of Qatar and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi addressed a strong message of support to the Sudanese people and called on the U.S. administration to remove Sudan from its blacklist for state sponsors of terrorism

Addressing the 74th UN General Assembly on Tuesday in New York, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi stressed the importance of removing Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism in recognition of positive transformation which the country is going through.

Al-Sisi pointed to the need of removing Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism in recognition of positive transformation which the country is going through.

“It’s important to help Sudan to address the economic challenges through interaction with the international financial institutions to fulfil hopes of its people,” al-Sisi stressed.

For his part, Qatar’s Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani echoed the al-Sisi call for Washington to remove Sudan from its terrorism blacklist.

Tamim said he was “confident that Sudanese will be able to overcome the transitional period successfully,” reiterating his country’s standing by Sudanese people, calling on the international community to support the east African nation.

Last Wednesday UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls to remove Sudan from the terror list, praising the political agreement reached last August between the army and the protesters’ coalition to form a transitional authority and to work together to bring peace into the country and achieve democratic reforms.

He pointed out that the Sudanese people are experiencing “a very dire economic situation and in a very dramatic economic situation”.

US officials in Washington say the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act and other legislative texts endorsed by the Congress prevent them from taking this measure, adding they are working with the lawmakers to amend their resolutions before the lift of sanction which is expected to take a period from nine months to one year.

However, it was purported that the Trump administration wants to keep Sudan on the terror list because it is the only remaining economic arm and that they intend to use it against the army if it tries to undermine the nascent democratic regime and its transitional government.

In a strongly worded pleading published on the CNN website, U.S. former President Jemmy Carter said that Sudan’s transition is at a fragile moment. To succeed, it needs urgent international support.

He recalled that Sudan is still facing enormous economic difficulties pointing to the rampant inflation and the daily lines for gas and bread.

“The country, however, is not eligible for international financial support because it remains on the United States’ list of “State Sponsors of Terrorism” (SSoT),” he said before to add “That label is misleading” because Sudan supports the U.S. and in 2017 received some sanctions relief.

” (…) but its presence on the SSoT list means Sudan cannot receive urgently needed assistance from the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund — or debt relief,” he stressed.

Also, “other countries cannot aid Sudan without incurring US sanctions”.he emphasized.

Carter shared the point of view of many Sudanese democrats who believe that the U.S. negative stance from the transitional government can pave the way for the Islamist military and their militias to abort the Sudanese revolution and destabilize the country and the whole region.

“Without such a step, Prime Minister Hamdok’s government will remain vulnerable. Peaceful demonstrations calling for democracy toppled former President Omar al-Bashir, but continuing economic deprivation may lead frustrations to boil over once again. Hamdok needs to demonstrate that the civilian government can improve people’s lives,” Carter said.

“Instability in Sudan would have negative impacts across the Horn of Africa and increase tensions in a Red Sea zone already roiled by the war in Yemen. It would also provide a ready reason for opponents of the transition to disrupt the country’s encouraging steps toward peace and democracy,” he concluded.

(ST)