Sudan, US to hold sanctions talks

KHARTOUM. — Sudan’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour said Tuesday that he is expecting to meet US State Secretary John Kerry later in New York on lifting US sanctions on Sudan and excluding the country from a US list of countries sponsoring terrorism. The meeting will take place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meetings, slated for September 19 in New York, in order to resume bilateral dialogue between Khartoum and Washington. “Dialogue with the US administration will not stop. We are working on building ties between the two countries,” Ghandour told reporters in Khartoum Tuesday.

“To achieve that, Sudan’s name must be removed from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism in addition to debt exemption as well as ending the imposed unilateral sanctions,” he noted. Two weeks ago, US Special Envoy to Sudan Donald Booth held talks with a number of Sudanese officials in Khartoum, but the Sudanese minister declined to disclose any details concerning the talks to reporters.

The United States imposed sanctions on Sudan in 1997 and placed it on its list of countries sponsoring terrorism.

Khartoum said the sanctions have negatively affected several of the country’s vital sectors including aviation, railways and the transport sector in general. Losses incurred in those sectors directly as a result of the sanctions reached over $40 billion. — Xinhua.