Khartoum – The Sudanese government hopes that US economic sanctions will be lifted by July 12.
This date was set by the US administration according to the executive order issued by former US President Barack Obama, stipulating lifting the sanctions partially then completely after 180 days once Sudan fulfills the five conditions – known as the “five tracks”.
This is what Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour meant when he said that talks with the US were “positive” and heading strongly towards fully lifting the sanctions.
These five conditions include: Sudan contributing in fighting terrorism, halting support to the Lord’s Resistance Army, supporting peace in South Sudan, ceasing armed conflicts and cooperating in the humanitarian field.
Ghandour told Asharq Al-Awsat: “The dialogue between the two parties continues through a mutual committee that meets regularly to follow up on the execution of the five tracks.”
“Through both parties’ reports and assessment, I can say that the evaluation is positive until now,” he added.
Despite the official optimism, analysts see that predicting what the US administration might do during the tenure of US President Donald Trump is “a difficult matter”.
Sudan’s representative in the negotiations Hassan Ahmed Taha echoed this stance, adding that Washington is unlikely to impose sanctions on Sudan again. He instead expected renewing the partial lift of sanctions for another six months.
Taha warned of the unpredictability of the current US administration, which might lead to the opposite of what Sudan wants.
On November 3 1997, US President Bill Clinton issued an executive order by which financial and commercial sanctions were imposed on Sudan. This resulted in freezing its financial assets and banning the export of technology to it or US companies and citizens investing in Sudan.