Sudan’s head of the Sovereign Council of Sudan, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, on Monday, received a phone call from U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to discuss Sudan’s removal from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
“In his phone call, Pompeo discussed arrangements to remove Sudan from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism (SST) and U.S. aid to Sudan in confronting the Coronavirus pandemic,” said a statement released by the Sudanese presidency.
Trump administration said working to remove Sudan from the SST list, but at the same time said that Khartoum has to pay compensations for the victims of terrorist attacks on USS Cole and US embassies in Dar es Salam and Nairobi.
The Sudanese government managed to pay some $70 million for the victims of USS Cole but the second case is still under discussions as the deal include US citizens and foreign nationals. Also, Sudan needs to ensure the support of a third party that can advance over $500 million in compensation.
Concerning COVID-19, the United States has granted Sudan nearly $13.7 million to support its efforts to stop the spread of the respiratory disease in the country.
But in a letter on 8 April, Sudanese Prime Minister complained from his country’s exclusion by the World Bank from emergency funds for coronavirus response operations in 25 developing countries.
Abdallah Hamdok regretted that “access to lifesaving external finance remains restricted due•to American sanctions on Sudan” and called on Antonio Guterres to press the World Bank to support the health and economic measures to confront the coronavirus.
According to the Sovereign Council, “Pompeo further discussed Sudan’s position on the draft resolution expected by the UN Security Council (on the UN political mission), along with security cooperation between the two countries as well as the transitional period and the needed support.
Last Friday, the Security Council discussed the withdrawal of the UNAMID from Darfur and the new political mission under Chapter IV to support the three-year democratic transition in Sudan.
The Sudanese ambassador to the UN warned that his country would not accept to establish the mandate of the new mission under Chapter VII.
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