Thursday, March 28, 2024

Sudan Tribune

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US rewards Sudan for terrorism help

By Saul Hudson

WASHINGTON, May 18 (Reuters) – The United States removed Sudan on Tuesday from a blacklist of countries that are uncooperative in its war on terrorism, in a gesture to a nation close to signing a peace deal long sought by Washington.

The United States made the gesture despite its anger at Africa’s biggest nation for limiting aid reaching Darfur — a separate conflict area, where government-backed militia have sparked the continent’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Tuesday’s decision does nothing to lift U.S. sanctions on Sudan, which remain in place because Khartoum has not severed all links with anti-Israeli groups such as Hamas, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters.

The Islamic government had requested Tuesday’s gesture from the United States as it negotiated a final settlement with mainly Christian and animist rebels in the south to end Africa’s longest-running civil war, he added.

With the Bush administration concerned about Islamic militants establishing bases in Africa, it rewarded Sudan for “remarkably” improving the information it shares with Washington on militants, Boucher said.

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.

In a sign U.S.-Sudanese relations remain complicated, Boucher said the government should not misinterpret that its removal from the list was a prize for its peace moves or that it meant Washington would ease up its pressure on Darfur.

“If they are cooperating against terrorism, then it’s on that basis — and only on that basis — that they would appear or not appear on the ‘non-cooperating’ list,” he said. “We have made clear that any of these other topics rests on its own merits.”

Secretary of State Colin Powell sought to underline the point. “We have told the government of Sudan we will not normalize relations even with an agreement (on the southern conflict) unless the crisis in Darfur is addressed,” Powell said in a speech to nongovernmental organization workers.

Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria and Libya remain on the “non-cooperating” list. These five and Sudan face U.S. sanctions because they are on another blacklist — for nations sponsoring terror groups.

Libya has vastly improved relations with the United States since agreeing to dismantle its illegal weapons programs last year. And U.S. officials reiterated on Tuesday Libya’s removal from the terror lists was also possible because the United States is reviewing its support for militant groups.

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