Khartoum Cabinet lauds Pompeo’s will to remove Sudan from US terror list

Sudan’s Council of Ministers has welcomed remarks by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee of his wish to remove Sudan from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism.

With support from senior member of the US Congress, Pompeo has called on the US administration to back PM Abdallah Hamdok and to remove Sudan from the list saying it “would be important not only for Sudanese-US relations but also for democracy in the whole region”.

On Thursday, Pompeo told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington that legislation on a settlement should come before Congress “in the very, very near term”.

‘There’s a chance not only for a democracy to begin to be built out, but perhaps regional opportunities that could flow from that as well’ – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

“There’s a chance not only for a democracy to begin to be built out, but perhaps regional opportunities that could flow from that as well,” Pompeo said.

Senior member of the US Foreign Relations Committee Chris Coons of the Democratic Party called for resolving the compensation question and for serving justice to families of the 1998 bombings*. He hinted that this would help move bilateral relations forwards. Coons urged Pompeo to “do everything you can” to support Hamdok and seize the chance “to build a new democratic partner in the region”.

Pompeo has said his administration would very soon submit before the committee a legislation on finding justice to the victims and their families and lifting the name of Sudan from the terrorism list

Council of Ministers

In a statement via the official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) on Saturday, the Council of Ministers welcomed Pompeo’s remarks and promised “to do its level best to meet the requirements that would help the administration take a positive action”.

The Council of Ministers also praised the role of the Foreign Relations Committee of the US Congress and Senator Chris Coons.

‘Sudan is ready to continue working with the American administration on how to create a climate that would result in removing the name of Sudan from the infamous list’ – Sudan’s Council of Ministers

“The Council of Ministers said Sudan is ready to continue working with the American administration on how to create a climate that would result in removing the name of Sudan from the infamous list,” the statement says.

The statement quotes PM Hamdok, as reaffirming his commitment to continue exerting efforts with all friends in the United States and abroad to finalise the issue and “fully move the Sudan to become part of the international community”.

* As reported by Radio Dabanga in June, according to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, an agreement with the Sudanese government on the victims of the 1998 bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, would be reached in the coming weeks.

We are working on a positive solution for Sudan’s new leadership and the Sudanese people, Pompeo told the US-backed Al Hurra news station in an interview on Wednesday.

After talking with Hamdok earlier that day, the US official expressed hope that the two parties will achieve a “satisfactory results” within weeks.

He could not give more details. “My team on the ground is working closely with the Sudanese leadership to try to reach a good result, and I hope that this will be achieved in the coming weeks,” he said.

The Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reported at the time that Minister of Foreign Affairs Asmaa Abdallah earlier announced that Khartoum is close to an agreement with Washington regarding the compensation for the victims of the bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that took place in the summer of 1998.

In February, the transitional government of Sudan paid out a settlement of $70 million to the families of the victims of the 2000 USS Cole bombing in Yemen in an effort to persuade the USA to remove Sudan from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, considered essential to the country’s economic recovery.