U.S. diplomat clarifies Trump decision to extend state of emergency on Sudan
November 3, 2019 (KHARTOUM) – The U.S. Chargé d’Affaires in Khartoum on Sunday clarified the decision of the Trump administration to extend the state of emergency on Sudan for an additional year, stressing that his government continue its efforts to remove Sudan’s from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism (SST).
On Friday 31 October, President Donald Trump renewed the state of national emergency on Sudan saying that “the crisis constituted by the actions and policies of the Government of Sudan that led to the declaration of a national emergency (…) has not been resolved”.
The decision which has angered ordinary Sudanese caused the pound to rise as it reached 88 SGP, while the minister of religious affairs dismissed that his country harbouring terrorists. Also, it increased scepticism over the US pledges to rescind the SST’s designation, as the Congress and the White House waging war against each over Trump impeachment inquiry.
In a meeting held on Sunday, U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Brian Shukan told the Sudanese Foreign Minister Asma Abdullah that Trump’s decision to extend the national state of emergency on Sudan for a year “is not a reinstatement of the economic sanctions that were cancelled by 2017.”
According to a statement from the Sudanese Foreign Ministry after the meeting, the charge d’affaires told the minister that “the declaration of a state of emergency towards a state is a measure taken by the President to be empowered to impose exceptional sanctions on this state,” in allusion to Sudan’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism.
He further added that the President needs to renew the emergency order, which lasts for a year, to keep in place the sanctions taken against that state.
The US diplomat pointed out to the efforts made by his administration to remove Sudan from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, but noted that the move “requires some time”.
In a meeting with Shukan On 28 October, Elham Mohamed Ahmed Assistant Undersecretary at the Foreign Ministry called for talks between the two countries a agree on a plan for Sudan’s rescission from the blacklist.
The Sudanese diplomat “stressed the need to re-establish a joint mechanism to resume the dialogue process with the United States to remove Sudan from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism,” said the foreign ministry.
The Sudanese foreign minister for her part, “stressed that the current government and the people of Sudan have nothing to do with terrorism and do not bear the brunt of the mistakes of the previous government”.
She further called to consider the positive developments in the country since last April, in allusion to the removal of the al-Bashir regime.
(ST)