Sudan rejects attaching additional conditions to removal from US terrorism list Article Comments (2) Email PrintSave --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 6, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government said on Sunday that it will not accept any new conditions in order to see its name off the list of countries that sponsor terrorism as designated by the U.S. administration. Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir (R) welcomes Hamas’s political chief Khaled Meshaal before a meeting in Khartoum March 6, 2011 (Reuters) Washington announced last month that it initiated the process of delisting Sudan to reward Khartoum for facilitating the South’s referendum and later recognizing its results. The U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has reportedly asked for an opinion from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on Sudan’s links with terrorist groups. A key condition for removing Khartoum from the US blacklist is that it does not "directly or indirectly" support terror groups. The U.S. State Department added Sudan to its state terror list in 1993, accusing Khartoum of harboring local and international militants including Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Countries on the list of state sponsors of terrorism cannot receive US aid or buy US weapons and a raft of restrictions on financial and other dealings. The list currently includes Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria. Following September 11 attacks on the United States, the Sudanese government strengthened its counterterrorism cooperation with Washington fearing that it could be target of military intervention similar to Iraq and Afghanistan. The U.S. special envoy Scott Gration said at a Congress hearing in 2009 that the terrorism designation for Sudan is no longer valid, and called it a "political decision". This week two U.S. lawmakers introduced a bill that prohibits the Obama administration from removing Sudan’s terrorism designation unless it certifies that Khartoum has ceased any support to Uganda’s Lord Resistance Army (LRA) which took up arms against Kampala in 1988. The Sudanese foreign ministry spokesperson Khalid Moussa told reporters that this proposed law contradicts U.S. promises and accused the Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) in control of the South of sabotaging any steps to normalize the North’s relationship with Washington. Moussa said that the ex-Southern rebel group is working with the Obama administration and the Congress to insist that a resolution to the Abyei impasse be reached before removing Sudan from the list. The Sudanese diplomat said that the bill shows "bad intentions" by some circles in Washington that he described as historically hostile to Sudan. He stressed that there is no evidence linking Sudan to the LRA rebels and cited the 2009 U.S. terrorism report as proof. Several reports and statements from the Ugandan army officials suggested that Khartoum has allowed LRA to take refuge in Darfur. But the U.S. said earlier this year it has no evidence to support this claim. Khartoum once backed Kony but severed the relationship in 2005, at the signing of a peace agreement between Sudan’s north and south. In a related issue, Moussa downplayed any impact from receiving leaders of the Islamic militant group Hamas which controls the Gaza strip. He pointed out that many countries enjoy good relations with the U.S. and with Hamas as well. Sudan is currently hosting a conference on Jerusalem which is attended by many Hamas figures including its political chief political chief Khaled Meshaal. (ST) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
