From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Fri Jul 31 2009 - 08:51:12 EDT
U.S. envoy says Sudan sanctions should be eased
Jul 31, 2009 7:50pm GMT
WASHINGTON, July 31 (Reuters) - There is no evidence to justify Sudan's
presence on a U.S. terrorism blacklist, a senior American official said on
Thursday, recommending that Washington eventually "unwind" some sanctions
against Khartoum.
Sudan, along with Cuba, Iran and Syria, is designated as a "state sponsor of
terrorism" by the U.S. State Department and is subject to sanctions,
including restrictions on aid.
General Scott Gration, the U.S. special envoy for Sudan, told lawmakers he
did not know of any <javascript:void(0);> intelligence to justify Sudan's
terror listing and suggested the sanctions were counterproductive to efforts
to bring peace to Sudan.
"There is no evidence in our intelligence community that supports (Sudan)
being on the state sponsors of terrorism list," Gration said. "It's a
political decision."
The retired <javascript:void(0);> Air Force general's mandate is to try to
sustain a 2005 peace accord that ended a two-decade <javascript:void(0);>
civil war between Sudan's north and <javascript:void(0);> south and to help
restore stability to the western Darfur region after years of fighting
between government and rebel forces.
The north-south peace deal established an interim period, with a coalition
government between the Muslim north and mostly Christian south and the
sharing of oil wealth. It ends in 18 months with a referendum in the south
on whether to secede.
"We are actually hurting the very development things we need to do help the
south become ... if they chose to secede, a viable economic state," Gration
said, noting that Washington could not bring in <javascript:void(0);> heavy
equipment to build roads and railways.
"At some point we are going to have to unwind some of these sanctions so
that we can do the very things that we need to do to ensure a peaceful
transition and a state that's viable in the (south) should they choose to do
that," he added.
In its latest report, the State Department described Sudan as "a cooperative
partner in global counterterrorism efforts."
Gration said a U.S. policy review on Sudan was likely to be completed in a
few weeks and Washington needed a relationship with Khartoum to deal with
the north-south and Darfur issues.
He said violence in Darfur has decreased recently in part because Sudan and
Chad are moderating their "proxy war," a reference to support for insurgents
on each other's territory.
"It's getting significantly better," Gration said, it appeared that in the
last month there had been 16 violent deaths in the region of which 12 were
related to crime.
Darfur's six-year conflict erupted when mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms
against Sudan's government, accusing it of neglecting the development of the
region.
Estimates of the resulting death toll range from 10,000 according to
Khartoum, to 300,000 according to U.N. Undersecretary-General for
<javascript:void(0);> Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes. (Editing by Chris
Wilson)
C <javascript:void(0);> Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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