The US has today formally removed Sudan from its blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism, the US embassy in Khartoum, the capital, announced. It has been 27 years since Sudan was blacklisted.
“The 45-day deadline for notifying Congress has expired and the Secretary of State has signed a notice to revoke Sudan’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, effective today [December 14] and to be posted in the Federal Register,” the embassy wrote on Facebook.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced in October that Sudan would be expelled. Sudan’s new civilian-backed government is keen to be removed because its blacklist severely discourages foreign investment.
Under the deal, Sudan agreed to pay $335 million to compensate survivors and families of victims of attacks in the United States in 1998 and 2000.
In 1998, the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were attacked. Sudan’s dictator Omar al-Bashir backed the terrorist group Al Qaeda. In 2000, the USS Cole was attacked off the coast of Yemen.
Sudan’s transitional government, which took office last year after Bashir’s ouster, also agreed to recognize Israel, one of Trump’s goals. But authorities in Khartoum have tried to play down the relationship.
Trump informed Congress on October 26 of his decision to remove Sudan from the blacklist. Under US law, unless Congress rejects it, the ban takes effect after 45 days.
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