The United States excludes Sudan from the blacklist of terrorist sponsors

The U.S. has officially removed Sudan from its blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism, a development that could help the African country secure foreign loans to boost its battered economy and end its pariah status.

The US Embassy in Khartoum said in a Facebook post that the removal of Sudan was effective as of Monday, December 14 and that a notification to that effect, signed by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, would be published in the Federal Register. The 45-day notification period for Congress has lapsed, it said.

Less than two months after the African nation pledged to normalize ties with Israel, the announcement came.

In response to the announcement, Sudan’s army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who doubles as the head of the Sovereign Council (the country’s highest executive authority), offered his “congratulations to the Sudanese people.”

He said;

“It was a task achieved… in the spirit of the revolution of December.”

Sudan is undergoing a fragile democratic transition following an uprising that led to the ouster of former autocratic President Omar al-Bashir by the military in April 2019. The county is now governed by a joint military and civilian government seeking better ties with the West and Washington.