US Official: Long Way to Go before Removing Sudan from Terror List

Sudan PM Abdalla Hamdok waves as he arrives for meetings with Sudan's ruling council and rebel leaders, at the Juba international airport in Juba, South Sudan, September 12, 2019. (Reuters)
Sudan PM Abdalla Hamdok waves as he arrives for meetings with Sudan's ruling council and rebel leaders, at the Juba international airport in Juba, South Sudan, September 12, 2019. (Reuters)
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US Official: Long Way to Go before Removing Sudan from Terror List

Sudan PM Abdalla Hamdok waves as he arrives for meetings with Sudan's ruling council and rebel leaders, at the Juba international airport in Juba, South Sudan, September 12, 2019. (Reuters)
Sudan PM Abdalla Hamdok waves as he arrives for meetings with Sudan's ruling council and rebel leaders, at the Juba international airport in Juba, South Sudan, September 12, 2019. (Reuters)

Sudan still has a long way to go before it is removed from the US state sponsors of terrorism list as its civilian government faces an “insurmountable task”, said Cameron Hudson, a former chief of staff to the special envoy for Sudan and ex-director for African Affairs on the National Security Council.

Washington has a long list of demands from Khartoum before removing sanctions, Hudson said in an article released by the Atlantic Council as Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok visited the US.

The Trump administration fears the “possibility that the military will reassert its authority as soon as sanctions are lifted,” he added.

He said Washington wants clarifications about the security and intelligence service after the recent reforms and whether the agency was fully under civilian control.

In addition, he pointed to the presence of “a number of known international terrorists and rebel groups from neighboring countries most of whom use the large, ungoverned desert expanse from the Red Sea to Libya as an ample hiding ground.”

Hudson, who is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Africa Center, said that Hamdok became the first Sudanese leader to visit Washington since 1985.

Moreover, he noted that the Palestinian Hamas movement and Lebanese Hezbollah party, which are designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the State Department, maintained a political office in Khartoum.

Hudson added that before removing Sudan from the terror list, Khartoum should pay more than USD300 million in compensation to the victims of the 2000 USS Cole bombing and more than USD2 billion in compensation for the families of the victims of the 1998 Nairobi and Dar es Salaam US embassy bombings.

Hamdok had arrived in Washington on Sunday at the head of a ministerial delegation. During his first visit to the US, he is hoping to reach an agreement with the American administration over the removal of his country from the state sponsors of terrorism list.



Netanyahu and Trump Prioritize Gaza Hostages

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. US July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. US July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
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Netanyahu and Trump Prioritize Gaza Hostages

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. US July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. US July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that his meeting with US President Donald Trump focused on freeing hostages held in Gaza, and stressed his determination to "eliminate" the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas.

Netanyahu said on X that the leaders also discussed the consequences and possibilities of "the great victory we achieved over Iran," following an aerial war last month in which the United States joined Israeli attacks on Iran's nuclear sites.

Netanyahu is making his third US visit since Trump took office on January 20 and had earlier told reporters that while he did not think Israel's campaign in the Palestinian enclave was done, negotiators are "certainly working" on a ceasefire.

Trump met Netanyahu on Tuesday for the second time in two days to discuss the situation in Gaza, with the president's Middle East envoy indicating that Israel and Hamas were nearing an agreement on a ceasefire deal after nearly two years of war. Netanyahu also said that ceasefire efforts were underway.

A delegation from Qatar, the host of indirect talks between Israeli negotiators and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, met senior White House officials before Netanyahu's arrival on Tuesday, Axios said, citing a source familiar with the details.

According to Reuters, the White House had no immediate comment on the report. Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, said the number of issues preventing Israel and Hamas from reaching an agreement had decreased from four to one, expressing optimism for a temporary ceasefire deal by the end of the week.

Witkoff told reporters at a Cabinet meeting that the anticipated agreement would involve a 60-day ceasefire, with the release of ten live hostages and nine deceased individuals.

Netanyahu met with Vice President JD Vance and then visited the US Capitol on Tuesday, and is due back in Congress on Wednesday to meet with US Senate leaders.

He told reporters after a meeting with the Republican House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson that while he did not think Israel's campaign in the Palestinian enclave was done, negotiators are "certainly working" on a ceasefire.

"We have still to finish the job in Gaza, release all our hostages, eliminate and destroy Hamas' military and government capabilities," Netanyahu said.