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 Sudan closes its embassy in Washington, saying no bank will accept its acco
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Sudan closes its embassy in Washington, saying no bank will accept its accounts
Sudan closes its embassy in Washington, saying no bank will accept its accounts
KHARTOUM, 25 Aug(AP) - Sudan said Wednesday it had closed its embassy in Washington after being unable to find a bank that would handle its financial matters.
The Foreign Ministry said the bank that had handled the embassy's transfers from Khartoum for more than 30 years had closed Sudan's account, along with other embassy accounts, in July "because of difficulties it encountered."
The ministry statement did not name the bank. The embassy has been the scene of daily demonstrations for several weeks in protest of Sudan's treatment of people in the western Darfur region.
The ministry said it asked the U.S. State Department for assistance but "it failed to convince that bank or find another bank." A senior State Department official said on condition of anonymity that efforts were being made to find another bank.
The ministry ordered the embassy to close this week because it cannot pay its employees or its utility or other bills.
The statement blamed the United States, saying it was the responsibility of the host country to facilitate the mission of embassies. It said if the situation was not resolved after an unspecified period of time, Sudan would "be obliged to take specific measures as necessary."
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Re: Sudan closes its embassy in Washington, saying no bank will accept its (Re: Deng)
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By James Morrison
Banking problems
The Sudanese ambassador said yesterday that he closed his embassy because of banking problems, not the daily demonstrations outside the diplomatic mission.
Sudan used Riggs Bank in Washington until the bank closed its embassy banking division amid a federal investigation into suspected illegal transactions.
"It is extremely difficult for us to function. We cannot pay our employees or our bills," Ambassador Khidir Haroun Ahmed told Embassy Row.
He said the bank refunded the money in the embassy's account in the form of cashier's checks, but added that he cannot cash them because the embassy no longer has a bank account.
The ambassador said he has spent months trying to find another bank that will handle embassy accounts.
Mr. Ahmed said Riggs notified him in June that it would cease embassy banking soon.
"A Riggs vice president told me there was no problem with Sudan, but they were closing all of the embassy accounts," Mr. Ahmed said.
The Treasury Department has accused Riggs of failing to report "suspicious activities and banking transactions."
Mr. Ahmed said his decision to close the embassy "had nothing to do with the demonstrations," such as one yesterday in which actor Danny Glover and others were arrested for illegally entering embassy grounds.
A full story on the demonstration is in today's Metropolitan section.
In the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, the Foreign Ministry said the U.S. government is responsible for facilitating the operations of foreign missions.
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Deng
سجيمان
حبيب نورة
Kostawi
فيس بوك
تويتر
انستقرام
يوتيوب
بنتيريست