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Big announcement from @realDonaldTrump today. The President intends to remove #Sudan from the State Sponsor of Terror (SST) list. If finalized, it will be a big win for @SudanPMHamdok too. We at the @TheWorld radio program have been following this story. Here are some highlights: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1318251010595303424">https://twitter.com/realDonal...
Many people in #Sudan see the SST related sanctions and economic isolation as punishment for Bashir& #39;s crimes. "I think it’s high time that the Sudanese not be punished for the deeds that we have not committed” - Samahir ElMubarak, pharmacist & activist. https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-12-20/year-after-revolution-sudan-celebrates-still-faces-squeeze-sanctions">https://www.pri.org/stories/2...
During #COVID19, some Sudanese in the diaspora saw the SST listing has hampering their relief efforts back home. “It’s a slow process that takes days and days, sometimes weeks, to transfer even $10,000” said @DrBakriAli, a businessman in the US. #Sudan https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-05-29/coronavirus-exposes-sudans-broken-health-care-system">https://www.pri.org/stories/2...
But payments to terror victims has complicated SST removal. #Sudan owes billions in compensation + punitive damages. The issue went to the Supreme Court in Feb. "You do this act and you know you will pay for it" - Irene, survivor of 1998 embassy attack KE https://www.pri.org/file/2020-02-24/sudan-us-supreme-court">https://www.pri.org/file/2020...
The US got pressure from all sides as they neared a deal with #Sudan to resolve the terror victim payments. Esp. from lawyers of foreign victims. "The substantial amount of compensation committed by Sudan demonstrates a good-faith effort" - State Dept https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-05-25/state-dept-nearing-deal-over-1998-terrorism-victims-can-sudan-pay-it">https://www.pri.org/stories/2...
Recent US pressure on #Sudan to normalize ties with Israel also complicated things. "The Trump admin is looking for some foreign policy wins...it sees now #Sudan as fitting neatly into a broader narrative of Middle East peace" - said @_hudsonc https://www.pri.org/file/2020-08-25/pompeo-meets-sudanese-leaders-khartoum">https://www.pri.org/file/2020...
No mention of Israel in the recent @realDonaldTrump announcement. So perhaps @SudanPMHamdok has temporarily maneuvered #Sudan out of that quagmire. I& #39;m curious if the pressure from the US and UAE to normalize relations with Israel will continue no matter who wins the US election?
Regardless, as @AsstSecStateAF said in May... “The termination of the designation of SST is not going to be flipping a switch. It is a process involving several branches of the US govt." Congressional approval and review could take months #Sudan https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-05-25/state-dept-nearing-deal-over-1998-terrorism-victims-can-sudan-pay-it">https://www.pri.org/stories/2...
Speaking of Congress. The process of removing #Sudan from the SST listing has been compared to similar efforts with Libya. In 2008, the US passed the Libyan Claims Resolution Act. Coincidently sponsored by Presidential candidate @JoeBiden (then a senator) https://www.congress.gov/bill/110th-congress/senate-bill/3370/text?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22libya%22%5D%7D&r=1&s=5">https://www.congress.gov/bill/110t...
