Sudan Transfers Compensation for US Bombing Victims- Central Bank

Sudanese demonstrators protest outside the Defence Ministry in Khartoum, Sudan April 14, 2019. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Sudanese demonstrators protest outside the Defence Ministry in Khartoum, Sudan April 14, 2019. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
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Sudan Transfers Compensation for US Bombing Victims- Central Bank

Sudanese demonstrators protest outside the Defence Ministry in Khartoum, Sudan April 14, 2019. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Sudanese demonstrators protest outside the Defence Ministry in Khartoum, Sudan April 14, 2019. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Sudan has transferred the compensation it has agreed to pay US victims of militant attacks and their families, the central bank governor said on Tuesday.

The payment of $335 million is part of a deal with the United States to get Sudan removed from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, which has been a hurdle for Khartoum as it sought debt relief and external borrowing.

Sudan has transferred the required amount, bank governor Mohamed al-Fatih Zainelabidine told a news conference

Acting Finance Minister Hiba Mohamed Ali also said that Sudan needed to accelerate the adjustment of its foreign exchange rate.

Sudan is in the midst of an economic crisis that has accelerated since the overthrow of autocrat Omar al-Bashir last year.

Thanks to US sanctions going back to the 1990s, Sudan has been largely cut off from the international banking system. But Zainelabidine said local banks would restore correspondence relations next week following the US move.

The Sudanese pound has fallen on the black market to 220 versus the dollar, while the official exchange rate is around 55. But since the US announcement on Monday the pound has gained from 250 the day before on the black market.



Tunisia Detains Prominent Lawyer Souab

Members of the honor guard stand at attention during a flag-raising in place of Kasba in Tunis, Tunisia, June 26, 2018. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
Members of the honor guard stand at attention during a flag-raising in place of Kasba in Tunis, Tunisia, June 26, 2018. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
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Tunisia Detains Prominent Lawyer Souab

Members of the honor guard stand at attention during a flag-raising in place of Kasba in Tunis, Tunisia, June 26, 2018. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
Members of the honor guard stand at attention during a flag-raising in place of Kasba in Tunis, Tunisia, June 26, 2018. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi

Tunisian police on Monday detained Ahmed Souab, a prominent lawyer and fierce critic of the country's president, lawyers told Reuters, raising human rights groups' concerns that a crackdown on dissent will go ahead.

Souab is among the lawyers acting for opposition leaders who received lengthy prison sentences on Saturday on conspiracy charges.

Souab strongly criticized the judge and the trial on Friday, calling it a farce and saying the judiciary had been completely destroyed.

"It seems he was detained because of his critical comments on the trial on Friday," said Samir Dilou, one of Souab's lawyers. Two others lawyers confirmed the detention.

Political parties rejected the rulings, saying they were retaliatory after a trial aimed at cementing President Kais Saied's authoritarian rule.

Rights groups say Saied has had full control over the judiciary since he dissolved parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree. He dissolved the independent Supreme Judicial Council and sacked dozens of judges in 2022.

"The mass conviction of dissidents...is a disturbing indication of the authorities' willingness to go ahead with its crackdown on peaceful dissent," the human rights group Amnesty International said.

Those convicted included prominent leaders of the Islamist Ennahda party, the main opposition party to Saied.

Ennahda Vice President, Noureddine Bhiri received a 43-year prison sentence, while the court sentenced two senior party officials, Said Ferjani and Sahbi Atig, to ​​13 years each.

The largest sentence was 66 years for businessman Kamel Ltaif, while opposition politician Khyam Turki received a 48-year sentence.