US sanctions hurting Sudan’s move to democracy: PM

The Sudanese prime minister has lashed out at the US’ sanctions against his country, saying Washington’s blacklisting of Khartoum has hampered the country’s transition to democracy.

Abdalla Hamdok, who was chosen to head a military-civilian interim government after a coup ended the 30-year dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir, said the US sanctions are “crippling our economy”.

Speaking in an interview for the Financial Times Africa Summit, Hamdok appealed to Washington to remove Khartoum from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, saying it would be a “game changer” for his impoverished country as he tries to steer a transition to democracy.

He said there was no guarantee the transition to democracy would stay on course until elections scheduled for 2022.

“Transitions are always messy. They are non-linear and they don’t travel in one direction,” he said, stressing that the road to democracy was being jeopardised by the US’s designation of Sudan as state-sponsor of terrorism. 

The African state, ruined by years of mismanagement, civil war and corruption, was cut off from the international finance system, Hamdok said, and was unable to restructure $60bn in debt arrears.

He lamented that his country has been “isolated from the world.”

It was unjust to treat Sudan as a pariah state more than 20 years after it expelled bin Laden, and a year after it overthrew the regime that harbored him.

“Sudanese people have never been terrorists. This was the deeds of the former regime,” he said.

He also dismissed speculations that Khartoum could recognize the Israeli regime if it was removed from the terrorism list, insisting there would be no quid pro quo.

Last month, it was reported that the United States was pressing Sudan to establish diplomatic relations with Israel in return for removal of the Northeast African country from a US list of states that sponsor terrorism.

US asks Sudan to normalize ties with Israel in return for coming off terror list

The United States conditions Sudan’s removal from a list of states that sponsor terrorism on its normalization of diplomatic ties with the Israeli regime.

Three Sudanese government officials familiar with the matter, however, told Reuters news agency that Khartoum was resisting the linkage of the two issues.

“Sudan has completed all the necessary conditions” an official said on condition of anonymity. “We expect to be removed from the list soon.”

Back in 1993, the US designated Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism, cutting it off from financial markets and strangling its economy over allegations that the government of former longtime leader Omar al-Bashir was supporting “terrorism.”

Sudan’s interim government took power last year after Bashir was overthrown by the army following mass popular protests. It is set to remain in office until elections in 2022.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk