Arrangements discussed for Sudan's removal from terror sponsors list

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Khartoum, Dec 1 (IANS) Sudan Sovereign Council Chairman Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed arrangements about removing the northeast African country from the list of states sponsoring terrorism in the coming weeks.

During a phone call with Pompeo on Monday, they also discussed the developments in Ethiopia and the need for a peaceful settlement to the conflict in a manner that achieves regional peace and enhances security in the region, Xinhua news agency quoted the Council as saying in a statement.

On October 23, US President Donald Trump announced his intention of removing Sudan from the state sponsor of terrorism list once the African country deposits a $335 million settlement amount for victims of the 1998 twin bombings at the two American Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya.

The decision was set to be effective on December 11.

Sudan had been listed as a state sponsor of terrorism since 1993. The other three nations on the list are Iran, North Korea and Syria, according to a CNN report.

Due to the designation, Sudan faces a series of restrictions including a ban on defence exports and sales and restrictions on US foreign assistance.

The August 7, 1998, simultaneous truck bomb explosions that took place at the American Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, killed at least 224 people.

The attacks, which were linked to local members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, brought the Al Qaeda to the attention of the international community for the first time and led to the FBI designating Osama bin Laden on its list of 10 most-wanted fugitives.

According to the CNN report, Sudan, which was then under the leadership of the now-ousted Omar al-Bashir, sheltered bin Laden and was found to have assisted the Al Qaeda operatives.

--IANS

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