US Treasury: Removing Sudan from Terror List a Matter of Time

Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing in the US Department of the Treasury Marshall Billingslea speaks during a news conference in Riga, Latvia May 16, 2019. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing in the US Department of the Treasury Marshall Billingslea speaks during a news conference in Riga, Latvia May 16, 2019. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
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US Treasury: Removing Sudan from Terror List a Matter of Time

Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing in the US Department of the Treasury Marshall Billingslea speaks during a news conference in Riga, Latvia May 16, 2019. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing in the US Department of the Treasury Marshall Billingslea speaks during a news conference in Riga, Latvia May 16, 2019. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

The US Treasury Department has said that removing Sudan from a list of state sponsors of terrorism is only a matter of time, a statement from Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s office said Sunday.

Hamdok held talks with a delegation from the US Treasury in Khartoum.

The statement said the PM stressed that the US is a strategic partner, and reiterated the keenness of Sudan’s transitional authorities to achieve comprehensive peace and improve the country’s economic situation.

Marshall Billingslea, the US Treasury’s Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing, told Hamdok that removing Sudan from the terrorism list is a matter of time, said the statement.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Asma Abdalla also urged the US delegation to remove Sudan from the list to enable it to deal with funding institutions and help it make financial transfers.

The Treasury delegation's visit came as foreign affairs committee leaders at the US Congress introduced legislation to support Sudan’s democratic transition.

Representatives Eliot L. Engel, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Michael McCaul, the Committee’s Ranking Member; Karen Bass, Chairperson of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations; and Chris Smith, the Subcommittee’s Ranking Member, introduced legislation to help foster a successful democratic transition in Sudan.

The Sudan Democratic Transition, Accountability, and Financial Transparency Act of 2020 (H.R.6094) would support a civilian-led democratic transition, promote accountability for human-rights abuses, and encourage fiscal transparency in Sudan.



Members of UK Jewish Group Say Can't 'Turn Blind Eye' to Gaza War

Children gather near a destroyed makeshift shelter following an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia - AFP
Children gather near a destroyed makeshift shelter following an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia - AFP
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Members of UK Jewish Group Say Can't 'Turn Blind Eye' to Gaza War

Children gather near a destroyed makeshift shelter following an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia - AFP
Children gather near a destroyed makeshift shelter following an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia - AFP

Members of the largest organization representing British Jews have said they can no longer "turn a blind eye" to the war in Gaza, adding "Israel's soul is being ripped out".

In a major break with the Board of Deputies of British Jews' policy of supporting the Israeli leadership, 36 of its members criticized the actions of Benjamin Netanyahu's government in Gaza in an open letter published in the Financial Times.

"The inclination to avert our eyes is strong, as what is happening is unbearable, but our Jewish values compel us to stand up and to speak out," said the letter, signed by around one in eight members of the Board of Deputies, AFP reported.

"We cannot turn a blind eye or remain silent" about the loss of life since a two-month truce collapsed on March 18, as negotiations over the return of Israeli hostages broke down, the letter added.

Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the war, 58 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

"Israel's soul is being ripped out and we, members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, fear for the future of the Israel we love and have such close ties to," added the letter.

The signatories accused the "most extremist of Israeli governments" of "openly encouraging violence against Palestinians in the West Bank."

"We stand against the war. We acknowledge and mourn the loss of Palestinian life," they added.

A spokesperson for the Board of Deputies told the Guardian that other members would "no doubt put more emphasis on the fundamental responsibility of Hamas for this ghastly situation."

At least 1,691 Palestinians have been killed since the resumption of the Israeli offensive, bringing the death toll in Gaza since the start of the war to 51,065, according to Gaza's Hamas-controlled health ministry.