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Sudan says thaw of ties with U.S. will not harm friendly states

Xinhua, January 18, 2017 Adjust font size:

The Sudanese government reiterated Wednesday that the rapprochement between Sudan and the United States after Khartoum's sanctions are partly eased would not be at the expense of any other country.

"We deal with each country according to our interests and our relations with any country will not be at the expense of another country," said Kamal Ismail, Sudan's State Minister for Foreign Affairs, at a press conference in Khartoum Wednesday.

"We do not know sales under the table, so if we make rapprochement with America after lifting the sanctions from us, that will not be at the expense of our friends who stood with us and supported us," he noted.

Yassir Khidir, Sudan's information ministry under-secretary, echoed Ismail's arguments.

"What has been rumored about possibility of a change in Sudan's relations with some friendly countries which have always supported Sudan is not true. This is not of our ethics," Khidir said at a press conference.

Ismail also expressed confidence that Sudan would fulfill its commitment to the sanction-lifting terms in the six-month time limit set by the U.S. government.

"It is difficult to reverse what has happened now, and though everything is possible, but the assessment period will not change anything. Sudan will safely pass the assessment period and we are confident that the sanctions will be fully lifted," he said.

On Jan. 13, the outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama issued a decision to cancel two executive orders imposing economic sanctions on Sudan.

The United States has been imposing sanctions on Sudan since 1997 and putting it on its list of countries sponsoring terrorism since 1993.

Since then, Washington has been renewing its sanctions on Sudan due to the continuing war in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan regions in addition to a number of outstanding issues with South Sudan such as the territorial dispute over the oil-rich Abyei area.

In Feb. 2015, however, the U.S. announced its decision to loosen sanctions on Sudan by allowing exports of personal communications hardware and software including smart phones and laptops, in what it said a move to help the Sudanese integrate into the global digital community. Endit