Khartoum, SUDAN
Sudan's central bank announced that the United States had
informed Khartoum it was lifting sanctions on 157 Sudanese firms, in line with
a policy shift by Washington in late 2017.
Central
bank governor Badreddine Abdelrahim said March 4 in a statement that "only
a few Sudanese individuals and entities remain under US sanctions for their
links to the conflict in Darfur," a region hit by a protracted
conflict that began in 2003.
The
US announced an end to its 20-year-old trade embargo against Sudan in October
2017, but retained the country on its state sponsors of terrorism list.
Abdelrahim
did not indicate why Washington's latest move had come so long after it
declared it was ending its sanctions regime.
The
announcement comes as Sudan is working to revive its economy and re-enter the
international arena following the ouster in April 2019 of longtime autocrat
Omar al-Bashir.
The
ex-leader is wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide, war
crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the conflict in the western
Darfur region, which left 300,000 people dead and displaced 2.5 million others,
according to United Nations data.
Sudan's
transitional authorities agreed last month to transfer him to stand trial
before the Hague based court.
According
to Abdelrahim, the lifting of the sanctions means that the firms concerned --
including banking institutions -- can now undertake international transactions.
A
central bank official recently announced that several Sudanese banks were close
to reaching agreements to start issuing US credit cards.
Sudan's
economy was dealt a devastating blow by the two decades of US sanctions levied
over human rights violations and alleged support for "terrorist"
groups.
Relations
deteriorated shortly after Bashir came to power through an Islamist-supported
coup in 1989.
Sudan
has been on Washington's list of state sponsors of terrorism since 1993 -- a
status the country's transitional authorities are lobbying to overturn.
The
founder of Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, lived in Khartoum between 1992 and 1996.
Spiralling
inflation and acute hardship were the main triggers for a protest movement that
erupted in December 2018 and led to the overthrow of Bashir. - AFP
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