Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok is expected to visit Washington soon to discuss with US officials prospects for Sudan’s removal from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list and lift the sanctions imposed on the country.
His visit would come against the backdrop of US President Trump’s decision on the continuation of the national emergency with respect to Sudan, which has been effective since 1997.
Upon his return from the US, Sudanese Finance Minister Ibrahim El-Badawi told the press that Hamdok will visit the US soon and meet heads of congressional committees, Trump administration officials, the World Bank president, and the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) managing director.
On Thursday, the White House said Trump determined that it was necessary to continue the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13067 on Sudan.
“Despite recent positive developments, the crisis constituted by the actions and policies of the Government of Sudan that led to the declaration of a national emergency in Executive Order 13067 of November 3, 1997 ... has not been resolved,” the White House said.
Under the Executive Order, the President declared a national emergency with respect to Sudan and took related steps to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by the actions and policies of the Government of Sudan.
On April 26, 2006, by Executive Order 13400, the President determined that the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region posed an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, and ordered the blocking of property of certain persons connected to the Darfur region.
On January 13, 2017, by Executive Order 13761, US President Barack Obama found that positive efforts by the Government of Sudan improved certain conditions and therefore lifted some sanctions.
In continuity of Obama’s steps, Trump issued in October 2018 an order lifting the US commercial ban and the sanctions that isolated Sudan from the global economy. However, he kept it on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism and imposed a ban on weapons sale and US aid.
The Sudanese government is exerting relentless efforts to remove Sudan from the list and to end the sanctions.
