Ending sanctions came after Sudan’s positive measures

The top US envoy in Sudan said Saturday the government of Sudan knows fully well what it needs to do to be removed from the Washington's blacklist of state sponsors of "terrorism".

US Charge D'Affaires to Khartoum Steven Koutsis' remarks came a day after Washington ended its 20-year-old trade embargo on the east African country.

On Friday, Khartoum hailed Washington's decision to end the sanctions as a "positive decision", but expressed disappointment at not being removed from the blacklist.

"Discussion on removing from the state sponsors of terror was not part of our engagement under the five-track plan," Koutsis said, referring to the five conditions that Washington had insisted that Khartoum meet in return for ending the trade embargo.

"If you are talking about a dialogue on this issue it has not happened yet."

Khartoum insists that there is "no reason" for it to be on the blacklist as it has cooperated with US intelligence agencies in fighting "terrorism" in the region, a claim acknowledged even by the US State Department.

With the embargo lifted, Koutsis said he expected increased interest from American companies on doing business in Sudan.

"But of course businesses will make business decisions based on entire level of risk involved, and they will be looking at other aspects of potential investment in Sudan," he said.

Koutsis said that "legal impediments" that previously prevented such transactions have now been removed with the lifting of the embargo.

Source: MENA