KHARTOUM,
Sudan
Two Arab
leaders and the former U.S. President Jimmy Carter Tuesday have called on the
Trump administration to remove Sudan from its terror list to allow
international support for its fragile transitional government.
In their
speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the Emir of Qatar
and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi addressed a strong message of
support to the Sudanese people and called on the U.S. administration to remove
Sudan from its blacklist for state sponsors of terrorism
Addressing
the 74th UN General Assembly on Tuesday in New York, Egyptian President Abdel
Fattah al-Sisi stressed the importance of removing Sudan from the list of state
sponsors of terrorism in recognition of positive transformation which the
country is going through.
Al-Sisi
pointed to the need of removing Sudan from the list of state sponsors of
terrorism in recognition of positive transformation which the country is going
through.
"It’s
important to help Sudan to address the economic challenges through interaction
with the international financial institutions to fulfil hopes of its
people," al-Sisi stressed.
For his
part, Qatar’s Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani echoed the al-Sisi call for Washington
to remove Sudan from its terrorism blacklist.
Tamim said
he was "confident that Sudanese will be able to overcome the transitional
period successfully," reiterating his country’s standing by Sudanese
people, calling on the international community to support the east African
nation.
Last
Wednesday UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls to remove Sudan from the
terror list, praising the political agreement reached last August between the
army and the protesters’ coalition to form a transitional authority and to work
together to bring peace into the country and achieve democratic reforms.
He pointed
out that the Sudanese people are experiencing "a very dire economic
situation and in a very dramatic economic situation".
US officials
in Washington say the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act and other legislative
texts endorsed by the Congress prevent them from taking this measure, adding
they are working with the lawmakers to amend their resolutions before the lift
of sanction which is expected to take a period from nine months to one year.
However, it
was purported that the Trump administration wants to keep Sudan on the terror
list because it is the only remaining economic arm and that they intend to use
it against the army if it tries to undermine the nascent democratic regime and
its transitional government.
In a
strongly worded pleading published on the CNN website, U.S. former President
Jemmy Carter said that Sudan’s transition is at a fragile moment. To succeed,
it needs urgent international support.
He recalled
that Sudan is still facing enormous economic difficulties pointing to the
rampant inflation and the daily lines for gas and bread.
"The
country, however, is not eligible for international financial support because
it remains on the United States’ list of "State Sponsors of
Terrorism" (SSoT)," he said before to add "That label is
misleading" because Sudan supports the U.S. and in 2017 received some
sanctions relief.
" (...)
but its presence on the SSoT list means Sudan cannot receive urgently needed
assistance from the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund — or debt
relief," he stressed.
Also,
"other countries cannot aid Sudan without incurring US sanctions".he
emphasized.
Carter
shared the point of view of many Sudanese democrats who believe that the U.S.
negative stance from the transitional government can pave the way for the
Islamist military and their militias to abort the Sudanese revolution and
destabilize the country and the whole region.
"Without
such a step, Prime Minister Hamdok’s government will remain vulnerable.
Peaceful demonstrations calling for democracy toppled former President Omar
al-Bashir, but continuing economic deprivation may lead frustrations to boil
over once again. Hamdok needs to demonstrate that the civilian government can
improve people’s lives," Carter said.
"Instability
in Sudan would have negative impacts across the Horn of Africa and increase
tensions in a Red Sea zone already roiled by the war in Yemen. It would also
provide a ready reason for opponents of the transition to disrupt the country’s
encouraging steps toward peace and democracy," he concluded. -
SudanTribune
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