Trump says Sudan to be removed from terror list if it pays $335M to Americans
CAIRO — President Donald Trump on Monday said Sudan will be removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism if it follows through on its pledge to pay $335 million to American terror victims and their families, but some hurt in the attacks weren’t happy with the deal.
The move would open the door for the African country to get international loans and aid needed to revive its battered economy and rescue the country’s transition to democracy. The announcement, just two weeks ahead of the U.S. presidential election, also comes as the Trump administration works to get other Arab countries, such as Sudan, to join the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain’s recent recognition of Israel.
Trump tweeted: “GREAT news! New government of Sudan, which is making great progress, agreed to pay $335 MILLION to U.S. terror victims and families. Once deposited, I will lift Sudan from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. At long last, JUSTICE for the American people and BIG step for Sudan!”
Sudan has agreed to pay compensation for victims of the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, attacks conducted by Osama bin Laden’s al- Qaida network while bin Laden was living in Sudan.
Gen. Abdel-Farrah Burhan, head of Sudan’s ruling sovereign council, welcomed Trump’s announcement as a “constructive step.” He said in a tweet the removal would come “in recognition of the historic change that has taken place in Sudan.”
The “state sponsors of terrorism” designation is one of the U.S. government’s most effective sanctions tools and bars virtually all nonhumanitarian U.S. transactions with countries on it. It was created in 1979 to punish nations that fund or otherwise support terrorist acts. With Sudan’s removal, only Iran, North Korea and Syria will remain on the list.
Some victims denounced he settlement; others urged Congress to pass legislation needed to implement the agreement.
More than 500 of the 700 victims of the 1998 bombings at the U.S. embassies signed a letter rejecting Sudan’s settlement offer, partly because it would award more money to Americans than Africans who worked there.
The letter said the plan offers compensation dependent on a victim’s nation of birth, rather than the severity of injuries.
“This scheme would pay nothing at all to nearly a third of the embassy victims and categorizes naturalized U.S. citizens as non-Americans,” the letter said. “It sets the value of the life of a U.S. embassy employee born in Africa at only 8% of an employee born in America.”