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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Mon Mar 07 2011 - 08:43:51 EST
<http://allafrica.com/sudan/> Sudan: Govt Rejects Attaching Additional
Conditions to Removal From US Terrorism List
7 March 2011
_____
Khartoum - The Sudanese government said on Sunday that it will not accept
any new conditions in order to see its name off the list of countries that
sponsor terrorism as designated by the U.S. administration.
Washington announced last month that it initiated the process of delisting
Sudan to reward Khartoum for facilitating the South's referendum and later
recognizing its results.
The U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has reportedly asked for an
opinion from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on Sudan's links with
terrorist groups.
A key condition for removing Khartoum from the US blacklist is that it does
not "directly or indirectly" support terror groups.
The U.S. State Department added Sudan to its state terror list in 1993,
accusing Khartoum of harboring local and international militants including
Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Countries on the list of state sponsors of terrorism cannot receive US aid
or buy US weapons and a raft of restrictions on financial and other
dealings. The list currently includes Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria.
Following September 11 attacks on the United States, the Sudanese government
strengthened its counterterrorism cooperation with Washington fearing that
it could be target of military intervention similar to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The U.S. special envoy Scott Gration said at a Congress hearing in 2009 that
the terrorism designation for Sudan is no longer valid, and called it a
"political decision".
This week two U.S. lawmakers introduced a bill that prohibits the Obama
administration from removing Sudan's terrorism designation unless it
certifies that Khartoum has ceased any support to Uganda's Lord Resistance
Army (LRA) which took up arms against Kampala in 1988.
The Sudanese foreign ministry spokesperson Khalid Moussa told reporters that
this proposed law contradicts U.S. promises and accused the Sudan People
Liberation Movement (SPLM) in control of the South of sabotaging any steps
to normalize the North's relationship with Washington.
Moussa said that the ex-Southern rebel group is working with the Obama
administration and the Congress to insist that a resolution to the Abyei
impasse be reached before removing Sudan from the list.
The Sudanese diplomat said that the bill shows "bad intentions" by some
circles in Washington that he described as historically hostile to Sudan. He
stressed that there is no evidence linking Sudan to the LRA rebels and cited
the 2009 U.S. terrorism report as proof.
Several reports and statements from the Ugandan army officials suggested
that Khartoum has allowed LRA to take refuge in Darfur.
But the U.S. said earlier this year it has no evidence to support this
claim.
Khartoum once backed Kony but severed the relationship in 2005, at the
signing of a peace agreement between Sudan's north and south.
In a related issue, Moussa downplayed any impact from receiving leaders of
the Islamic militant group Hamas which controls the Gaza strip.
He pointed out that many countries enjoy good relations with the U.S. and
with Hamas as well.
Sudan is currently hosting a conference on Jerusalem which is attended by
many Hamas figures including its political chief political chief Khaled
Meshaal.
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