Sudan expecting US to lift sanctions

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Sudan expects the United States to lift economic sanctions as Khartoum has met the required conditions, a Sudanese minister said, days before Washington is due to announce a decision.

The US government said it is deciding whether to lift a raft of penalties imposed first over Khartoum’s perceived support of global terrorism, later its violent suppression of rebels in Darfur.

Former US President Barack Obama temporarily eased some sanctions that cut Khartoum off from large parts of the global financial system. Officials said the gesture was meant to recognise Khartoum’s moves to end conflicts and its help in the war on terrorism.

In July, US President Donald Trump’s administration postponed for three months a decision on whether to remove the restrictions full-time – giving it an October 12 deadline.
“Sudan has fulfilled all the necessary conditions relating to the roadmap and the US administration is a witness to that and we expect sanctions to be lifted,” Sudan’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hamed Momtaz, told Reuters.

Washington said Sudan needs to resolve its internal conflicts and let more aid into Darfur and other rebellious border areas, among other conditions.

Some rights groups have raised concerns, saying lifting sanctions could lead to further abuses.
“We’re afraid lifting sanctions could pave the way for government to violate rights,” said Al-Buraq al-Nazir al-Warraq, executive manager of the Sudanese Observatory for Human Rights, a group suspended by government.

Any lifting of economic penalties would be a major turnaround for the government of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who once played host to Osama bin Laden and is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of orchestrating genocide in Darfur.