Officially...US Secretary of State Signs Order Removing Sudan from Terror List

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that he had officially signed an order to remove Sudan from the list of sponsors of terrorism states after months of negotiations.

https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1346463966361485312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1346463966361485312%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fenglish.alarabiya.net%2Fen%2FNews%2Fmiddle-east%2F2021%2F01%2F05%2FUS-Secretary-of-State-Pompeo-signs-on-Sudan-s-removal-from-Sponsors-of-Terrorism-list

He also vowed to “ensure compensation for American victims of terrorism and their families.”

The US formally removed Sudan’s state sponsor of terrorism designation on Dec 14, 2020, 27 years after including the country on its blacklist, the US Embassy in Khartoum announced.

Notably, US President Donald Trump had announced in October that he would take Sudan off the list, which also includes North Korea, Iran, and Syria.

As part of a deal, Sudan agreed to pay $335 million to compensate survivors and victims’ families from the twin 1998 attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, carried out when al-Bashir was welcoming al-Qaeda, and a 2000 attack on the USS Cole off Yemen’s coast.

Sudan’s transitional government, which took over last year following Bashir’s overthrow, has also agreed to recognize Israel, a major goal for Trump, although Khartoum has sought to downplay the connection.

Sudan became the third Arab state - after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain - to move to normalize relations with Israel this year. After Sudan, Morocco also established diplomatic ties with Israel.