Noureddine Sati, Sudan’s ambassador to the United States, said he expected that an executive order would be issued by President Donald Trump to remove Sudan from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism.
“I asked Trump about removing Sudan from the list of terrorism, and I told him that we expect good relations to be established. The president replied that his administration would use all means to remove Sudan from the list of terrorism,” Sati told Asharq Al-Awsat in an interview on Monday.
According to Sati, the issuance of an executive order by Trump to remove Sudan from the list of states sponsoring terrorism should face no obstacles. This issue is not likely to face rejection in the Congress, he noted.
The ambassador, who became the representative of his country in Washington, after a diplomatic rift of 23 years, indicated that the events of Nairobi, Dar al-Salaam and other terrorist incidents, of which Sudan is accused “are almost settled, as the Sudanese government has indebted sums of money to compensate the families of the victims.”
“However, the current dilemma lies in the US Congress’ insistence on involving Sudan in the September 11 attacks,” he underlined.
The ambassador continued: “There are contradictory legal details, and the disagreement of the two major parties in the US over Sudan is the major problem. This is the difficulty we are facing now, but the embassy’s legal team is following carefully on the details of the matter.”
Sati stressed that his country has made considerable progress in human rights issues, combating extremism and terrorism, religious freedoms, as well as achieving peace at home and abroad.
Regarding the normalization of relations between Sudan and Israel, Sati said that economic and financial assistance to the country, along with its removal from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism, were all reasons to consider the establishment of ties.
However, he emphasized that the economic, psychological, social, political and historical situation in the country “is not ready” for such a move.
“We cannot engage in normalization with Israel while the people are suffering from all these difficulties; but if they provide us with economic assistance, the issue of normalization will be considered,” he stated.
