Sudan FM to Asharq Al-Awsat: New US Sanctions Won’t Affect Warring Parties

Smoke billows behind buildings in Khartoum on June 2, 2023, as fighting between Sudan's warring generals intensified. (AFP)
Smoke billows behind buildings in Khartoum on June 2, 2023, as fighting between Sudan's warring generals intensified. (AFP)
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Sudan FM to Asharq Al-Awsat: New US Sanctions Won’t Affect Warring Parties

Smoke billows behind buildings in Khartoum on June 2, 2023, as fighting between Sudan's warring generals intensified. (AFP)
Smoke billows behind buildings in Khartoum on June 2, 2023, as fighting between Sudan's warring generals intensified. (AFP)

The Sudanese army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were not surprised with Washington’s announcement on Thursday that it was imposing new sanctions on them due to their role in the ongoing conflict in the country.

Sudanese political parties dismissed the impact the sanctions will have on the army and RSF, but acting Foreign Minister Ali Sadiq told Asharq Al-Awsat that the people will bear the brunt of them.

Sudan’s Ambassador to the US Mohamed Abdalla Idris announced that his government rejects the sanctions, saying such an approach had been used before and it had led to the destruction of peoples in the Arab and Islamic worlds.

Moreover, he noted that the US was a mediator in attempting to resolve the conflict, so how could it possibly impose sanctions on the parties it is talking to.

He added that the sanctions have been imposed on companies owned by the people, meaning Washington was collectively punishing them.

Furthermore, he revealed that the army will resume its participation in the ceasefire negotiations once the other party commits to its pledges.

Half-step

US Senator Jim Risch was scathing of the Biden administration for imposing the new sanctions.

“Thursday’s actions do not even represent a half-step in what needs to happen. The sanctions designations, while positive in their own right, do not openly hold accountable the top Sudanese individuals responsible for the catastrophic situation in Sudan,” he said in a statement.

“The people most responsible for destabilizing the region and ongoing brutality against the Sudanese people remain untouched by US sanctions.”

“Not unlike its policy response to the civil war in northern Ethiopia, the administration once again has avoided holding accountable top-level officials of the warring parties in Sudan,” he stressed.

“We can't let another African conflict of this magnitude persist without taking more transparent and direct action against those responsible for the fighting, which has killed hundreds, injured thousands, and displaced millions. These actions once again come short of real accountability,” he stressed.

Limited impact

Development and rights expert in Geneva Abdulbaqi Jibril told Asharq Al-Awsat that the US sanctions will not have a major impact on the current situation in Sudan.

He cited Sudan’s past experience in dealing with sanctions. Washington had imposed unilateral economic sanctions for two decades on the former regime. They were introduced during the term of former President Bill Clinton in 1997 and lifted in 2017 under then President Donald Trump.

The impact of sanctions is “limited at best” and very few vital sectors are affected by them, remarked Jibril.

The previous sanctions played a major role in impoverishing the people, he noted. They played a direct role in deepening unprecedented economic corruption.

He explained that the American measures at the time forced Sudan out of the world’s banking and financial system, compelling the former regime to use complicated means to meet basic needs.

The former government managed to mitigate the impact of the sanctions and trade embargo by resorting to financing outside the global banking system. This in turn limited the state institutions’ ability to control the movement of funds in the country.

International relations professor in Sudan Salaheddine al-Doma told Asharq Al-Awsat that the sanctions are “very effective.”

The warring parties are well aware that the US is serious about achieving the people’s aspirations in civilian rule because it accomplishes its interests.

If developments go against US wishes, then Russia and China will be able to impose their influence in Sudan, he noted.

Moreover, Washington’s failure to achieve civilian rule in Sudan will have an impact on President Joe Biden’s reelection bid next year, he added.



Gaza's Huge Reconstruction Challenge: Key Facts and Figures

Palestinians remove the rubble of houses destroyed by Israeli strikes, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, September 4, 2024. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Palestinians remove the rubble of houses destroyed by Israeli strikes, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, September 4, 2024. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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Gaza's Huge Reconstruction Challenge: Key Facts and Figures

Palestinians remove the rubble of houses destroyed by Israeli strikes, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, September 4, 2024. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Palestinians remove the rubble of houses destroyed by Israeli strikes, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, September 4, 2024. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Billions of dollars will be needed to rebuild Gaza when the war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas ends, according to assessments from the United Nations.

Here is a breakdown of the destruction in Gaza from the conflict prompted by the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by militants led by the then Hamas rulers of the long-besieged Palestinian enclave, according to Reuters.

HOW MANY CASUALTIES ARE THERE?

The Hamas attack on Israel killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's retaliation has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians and injured around 95,000, according to the Gaza health ministry.

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO CLEAR THE RUBBLE?

The United Nations has warned that removing 40 million tonnes of rubble left in the aftermath of Israel's bombardment could take 15 years and cost between $500-600 million.

The debris is believed to be contaminated with asbestos and likely holds human remains. The Palestinian health ministry estimated in May that 10,000 bodies were missing under the rubble.

HOW MANY HOMES HAVE BEEN DESTROYED?

Rebuilding Gaza's shattered homes will take at least until 2040 but could drag on for many decades, according to a UN report released in May.

Palestinian data shows that about 80,000 homes have been destroyed in the conflict.

According to the United Nations, at least 1.9 million people across the Gaza Strip are internally displaced, including some uprooted more than 10 times. The pre-war population was 2.3 million.

WHAT IS THE INFRASTRUCTURE DAMAGE?

The estimated damage to infrastructure totals $18.5 billion, affecting residential buildings, commerce, industry, and essential services such as education, health, and energy, a UN-World Bank report said.

Gaza City has lost nearly all its water production capacity, with 88% of its water wells and 100% of its desalination plants damaged or destroyed, Oxfam said in a recent report.

HOW WILL GAZA FEED ITSELF?

More than half of Gaza's agricultural land, crucial for feeding the war-ravaged territory's hungry population, has been degraded by conflict, satellite images analysed by the United Nations show.

The data reveals a rise in the destruction of orchards, field crops and vegetables in the Palestinian enclave, where hunger is widespread after 11 months of Israeli bombardment.

WHAT ABOUT SCHOOLS, UNIVERSITIES, RELIGIOUS BUILDINGS?

A report from the Gaza Government Media Office in August enumerated the damage to public facilities. The conflict led to the destruction of 200 government facilities, 122 schools and universities, 610 mosques, and three churches.

Amnesty International's Crisis Evidence Lab has highlighted the extent of destruction along Gaza's eastern boundary. As of May 2024, over 90% of the buildings in this area, including more than 3,500 structures, were either destroyed or severely damaged.