US-Sudanese Talks to Remove Khartoum from Sponsors of Terrorism List

US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan (3rd-L) meets with Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour (4th-R) at the foreign ministry headquarters in the capital Khartoum on Nov. 16, 2017. (EBRAHIM HAMID/AFP/Getty Images)
US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan (3rd-L) meets with Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour (4th-R) at the foreign ministry headquarters in the capital Khartoum on Nov. 16, 2017. (EBRAHIM HAMID/AFP/Getty Images)
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US-Sudanese Talks to Remove Khartoum from Sponsors of Terrorism List

US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan (3rd-L) meets with Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour (4th-R) at the foreign ministry headquarters in the capital Khartoum on Nov. 16, 2017. (EBRAHIM HAMID/AFP/Getty Images)
US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan (3rd-L) meets with Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour (4th-R) at the foreign ministry headquarters in the capital Khartoum on Nov. 16, 2017. (EBRAHIM HAMID/AFP/Getty Images)

The Sudanese capital has witnessed high-level US-Sudanese talks, during which the two sides agreed on a new roadmap to remove Sudan from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism in return for its commitment to respect religious freedoms, ensure human rights and boycott North Korea.

US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan arrived in Khartoum on Thursday for a two-day official visit, which is seen as an extension of the Sudanese-American dialogue, which has been going on for several months.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour described the visit of the American delegation to his country as “the beginning of the second phase of the Sudanese-American dialogue”, noting in a press statement following his talks with Sullivan, that Sudan has assured the American side that it would deal with the five-track roadmap as a “national agenda”.

He pointed out that the highlights of the new phase of the Sudanese-American dialogue would include removing the country from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, exempting it from its debts, and helping it join the World Trade Organization.

Ghandour said the US official expressed his readiness to cooperate with Sudan in the fight against terrorism, noting that the American side expressed concern about the cooperation of his government with North Korea.

“We assured them that there is no economic, commercial or military cooperation with North Korea,” in line with the commitment to the resolutions of the United Nations and the Security Council.

As for cooperation at the economic level, Ghandour said that Sullivan expressed Washington’s readiness to cooperate with Khartoum after the lifting of economic sanctions. He explained that some US companies have entered the field of investment in Sudan, saying: “The delegation underlined the commitment of US banks to cooperate with Sudan and the US readiness to support the country in its cooperation with international banks.”



Lebanon’s President Reveals the Country’s Stance on Relations with Israel

 Lebanese President Joseph Aoun looks on during a meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace in the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun looks on during a meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace in the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP)
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Lebanon’s President Reveals the Country’s Stance on Relations with Israel

 Lebanese President Joseph Aoun looks on during a meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace in the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun looks on during a meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace in the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP)

Lebanon has no plans to have normal relations with Israel at the present time, and Beirut’s main aim is to reach a “state of no war” with its southern neighbor, the country’s president said Friday.

President Joseph Aoun’s comments came as the Trump administration is trying to expand the Abraham Accords signed in 2020 in which Israel signed historic pacts with United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

In May, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said during a visit to France that his country is holding indirect talks with Israel to prevent military activities along their border from going out of control. Talks about peace between Israel and Syria have increased following the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad from power in December.

Aoun added in comments released by his office that only the Lebanese state will have weapons in the future, and the decision on whether Lebanon would go to war or not would be for the Lebanese government.

Aoun’s comments were an apparent reference to the armed Hezbollah group that fought a 14-month war with Israel, during which it suffered major blows including the killing of some of its top political and military commanders.

Hezbollah says it has ended its armed presence near the border with Israel, but is refusing to disarm in the rest of Lebanon before Israel withdraws from five overlooking border points and ends its almost daily airstrikes on Lebanon.

Earlier this week, US envoy Tom Barrack met with Lebanese leaders in Beirut, saying he was satisfied with the Lebanese government’s response to a proposal to disarm Hezbollah.

Hezbollah’s weapons have been one of the principal sticking points since Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000. Since then, Hezbollah fought two wars with Israel, one in 2006, and the other starting a day after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza.

The Hezbollah-Israel war, which ended with a US-brokered ceasefire in November, left more than 4,000 people dead in Lebanon and caused destruction estimated at $11 billion. In Israel, 127 people, including 80 soldiers, were killed during the war.

“Peace is the state of no war and this is what is important for us in Lebanon at the present time,” Aoun was quoted as telling visitors on Friday. He added that “the matter of normalization (with Israel) is not included in Lebanon’s current foreign policy.”

Lebanon and Israel have been at a state of war since 1948.