Sudan eyes economic recovery after planned US terror delisting
Khartoum transfers $ 335m compensation for blast victims
Sudan yesterday hailed US plans to remove it from its state sponsors of terrorism blacklist, saying the move would facilitate debt relief and pave the way to economic recovery.
Sudan is one of four nations branded by the United States as a state sponsor of terrorism — alongwith Iran, North Korea and Syria.
The designation has severely impeded economic development in the northeast African nation, with few major foreign investors willing to run afoul of US laws. “This decision qualifies Sudan for debt relief,” Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok said in a speech broadcast by state television.
“Today, we have debts of more than $ 60 billion. This decision paves the way for exemption.”
In a landmark announcement, US President Donald Trump on Monday declared his readiness to remove Sudan from the US blacklist.
“At long last, JUSTICE for the American people and BIG step for Sudan!” Trump wrote on Twitter, vowing to delist Sudan as soon as the compensation is “deposited”.
Sudan’s terror designation dates to 1993 during the rule of now- ousted Islamist president Omar Al Bashir, who hosted wanted militants including former Al Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden in the 1990s.
Sudan has transferred the compensation it has agreed to pay US victims of militant attacks and their families, the central bank governor said yesterday. Sudan has transferred the required amount, bank governor Mohammad Al Fatih Zain Al Abideen told a news conference.
On Monday, Trump said Sudan had agreed to a $ 335 million compensation package for victims and relatives of 1998 US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
‘ A newhorizon’
Sudan’s central bank governor Mohammad Al Fatih said during the news conference that the compensation payments had been made.
Earlier this year, Sudan had paid compensation to families of victims of a bomb attack on the USS Cole off Yemen’s coast in October 2000.
Sudan always denied any involvement but agreed to the settlement to fulfil US conditions for its delisting.
“This is the beginning. This is not a solution to our problems, but it is the beginning,” said Sudan’s acting foreign minister Omar Qamar Al Deen.
“We are not terrorist people but we were afflicted by a regime that made us appear so,” he told a news conference.
Finance Minister Heba Ali hailed the US decision but said fundamental changes “will not be immediate”.
The delisting allows Sudanese financial institutions to establish ties with their counterparts abroad, and facilitate money transfers, she said. It will also allow Sudan to apply for debt relief initiatives, she added.