Trump to remove Sudan from list of states supporting terrorism

Donald Trump will remove Sudan from the list of states supporting terrorism, the White House announced on Friday, just before confirming that Khartoum would normalize its relations with Israel. 

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok immediately thanked the US president in a tweet.

Donald Trump "has informed Congress of his intention to formally cancel the designation of Sudan as the sponsoring state of terrorism," said the US executive, calling this development a "pivotal moment" for Sudan and relations between Washington and Khartoum .

The announcement comes after Sudan "agreed to resolve certain demands of American victims of terrorism and their families." Yesterday, in application of this agreement, the transitional government of Sudan transferred 335 million dollars to an escrow account for these victims and their families ”, specified the White House.

These include the attacks perpetrated in 1998 by the jihadist nebula Al-Qaeda against the United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which left more than 200 dead.

Sudan, once an outcast of the international community for having hosted al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in the 1990s, has been ordered to pay such compensation by the American courts.

The agreement paves the way for "a new future of collaboration and support for the historic transition underway" in Sudan, according to the White House, which hailed the country's transitional authorities.

The executive finally called on the US Congress to pass the necessary legislation to implement the agreement.

Sudan has been on this American blacklist since 1993, synonymous with hindering investments for this poor country.

The United States reconnected with Khartoum already under former Democratic President Barack Obama, when Sudanese ex-President Omar al-Bashir began to cooperate in the fight against terrorism and played the game of peace in South Sudan.

The revolution which swept through Omar al-Bashir only accelerated the movement.