US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday said Washington has now officially removed Sudan from a list of state sponsors of terrorism, adding that the move represented a fundamental change for the two countries' bilateral ties towards greater cooperation.
"This achievement was made possible by the efforts of Sudan's civilian-led transitional government to chart a bold new course away from the legacy of the Bashir regime and, in particular, to meet the statutory and policy criteria for rescission," Pompeo said in a statement.
The US Embassy in Khartoum said in a Facebook post that the removal of Sudan was effective as of Monday, and that a notification to that effect, signed by Pompeo, would be published in the Federal Register. It said the 45-day congressional notification period has lapsed.
The decision could help the African country get international loans to revive its battered economy and end its pariah status.
The designation of Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism dates back to the 1990s, when Sudan briefly hosted al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and other wanted militants.
Delisting Sudan is also a key incentive for the government in Khartoum to normalize relations with Israel. The two countries have agreed to have full diplomatic ties, making Sudan the third Arab state — after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain — to move to normalize relations with Israel this year. After Sudan, Morocco also established diplomatic ties with Israel.
Sudan is on a fragile transition to democracy following an uprising that led to the military’s ouster of former President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. The county is now ruled by a joint military and civilian government that seeks better ties with Washington and the West.
In October, Trump announced that he would remove Sudan from the list if it follows through on its pledge to pay $335 million to American terror victims and their families. Sudan has agreed to pay compensation for victims of the 1998 bombings of the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, attacks carried out by al-Qaeda while bin Laden was living in Sudan.
According to the October announcement, once the compensation money was deposited, Trump was to sign an order removing Sudan from the terrorism list on which it has languished under heavy American sanctions for 27 years.
Since Trump's announcement, the Sudanese government also inked an agreement with the US that could effectively stop any future compensation claims being filed against the African country in US courts.
That deal restores in US courts what is known as sovereign immunity to the Sudanese government. It would however enter into force after US Congress passes legislation needed to implement the agreement. Khartoum has said the $335 million in compensation money would be held in an escrow account until then.
