September 28, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has called for more pressure on the Congress to pass a deal removing Sudan from the list of countries supporting terrorism saying it would be a big diplomatic victory for Trump administration.

Two Democrat Senators Chuck Schumer and Bob Menendez say they would not vote legislation restoring Sudan’s sovereign immunities because the deal prevents the victims of 9/11 attacks from suing Sudan which is now accused of supporting al-Qaeda group in this horrible terrorist operation.

Initially, Menendez raised the issue of some African victims of Nairobi and Dar es Salam attacks saying they deserve to receive more money because they are now U.S. citizens. But recently he focused on the 9/11 victims.

"Sudan is pulling away from terror networks and toward the West, and the Trump Administration has to push Congress harder on the issue to ensure success," said the WSJ in its editorial on Monday.

"It would be an important diplomatic achievement in a part of the world where those don’t come often," further stressed the editorial.

The daily pointed out that the 9/11 victims already have been compensated by Congress, adding that by pushing for more now they risk damaging the antiterror cause and harming U.S. interests in the region.

Trump administration has been under international pressure to remove Sudan from the terror list. European Union countries and Washington allies in the Middle East including Israel, Saudi Arabia, and UAE and others have backed the delisting.

Also, the visibly electoral logic of the two senators who are from New York and New Jersey, two constituencies affected hard by the 11/9 attacks, pushed American Sudanese to launch a campaign to press the two Democrats senators to endorse the legislation.

However, some of them regretted the silence of the Democrat Party leaders who did not intervene to dissuade the two senators from blocking a deal crucial to relieve the whole Sudan.

Also, the deal has bipartisan support in Congress. Senator Christopher Coons, a Democrat, has drafted the legislation to restore Sudan’s sovereign immunities before US courts.

This is the second the WSJ dedicate its editorial to support Sudan’s removal from the terror list. On 10 August it also exhorted the U.S. administration to speed un Sudan removal from the terror list.

(ST)