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 Colin Powell met with Mustafa Osman/The Peace Agreement "is a done deal"
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Powell Hails Sudan's Anti-Terror Work
By GEORGE GEDDA
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State Colin Powell met Wednesday with Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail and discussed ways that Sudan could be removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.
With the exception of Syria, it has been extremely rare for secretaries of state to meet with top diplomats from countries on the terrorism list.
But the Bush administration has been pleased lately with some of the steps that Sudan has been taking both in the war on terrorism and in efforts to end the 20-year war with the SPLA rebel movement in southern Sudan.
``I think it's safe to say that Sudan is not the kind of haven for terrorists that it used to be,'' State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.
Powell reviewed some of the steps Sudan must take to be removed from the terrorism list. Powell told Ismail, according to Boucher, ``We would like nothing better than to see you carry out these steps and let us take you off the list.''
As for the peace process, Boucher said, ``We think there is a real prospect to reach a just and lasting conclusion to the civil war.''
Among the remaining obstacles are finding formulas for the sharing of power and wealth and for creating a judicial system that takes into account the needs of all regions.
The war, which matches the Islamic north against the largely non-Muslim south, has claimed more than 2 million lives since it resumed in 1983 after a hiatus of about 10 years.
Ismail said after the meeting with Powell that his government ``would sign a peace agreement with the SPLA as quickly as possible, maybe next month.''
He also reaffirmed Sudan's commitment to fight terrorism, ``whether nationally, regionally or internationally.''
Ismail denied reports that there is an al-Qaida presence in Sudan.
Boucher said an end to the civil war would resolve many long-standing issues with Sudan - a hint that a peace breakthrough could lead to Sudan's removal from the terrorism list.
He said a cease fire in central Sudan has led to a dramatic improvement in the humanitarian situation there.
Joining Sudan on the terrorism list are Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea and Syria.
Membership on the list prohibits U.S. arms-related exports, economic assistance and U.S. support for loans by the World Bank and other international financial institutions.
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