总统唐纳德·特朗普他在推特上说,他将把苏丹从支持恐怖主义的国家名单上删除,这是美国最严厉的制裁,这是一个历史性的举动,标志着两国关系的新篇章。
作为交换,苏丹新政府支付了3.35亿美元给受害者1998年美国大使馆爆炸案肯尼亚和坦桑尼亚。
此举是一项更广泛协议的一部分,该协议可能为这个非洲国家带来债务减免、国际金融援助和人道主义援助。一年半前,和平抗议推翻了其长期铁腕领导人奥马尔·巴希尔。取而代之的是,军事领导人正在与过渡政府中的平民分享权力,过渡政府一直在与政治和经济危机作斗争,并迫切寻求结束这些制裁。
该协议还可能包括苏丹与以色列关系正常化——苏丹文职总理表示,过渡政府不能采取这一步骤,但特朗普在竞选季节努力游说,推动在这个犹太国家与其阿拉伯邻国之间建立新的关系。
阿什拉夫·沙兹利/法新社通过盖蒂图像,文件
2020年6月30日,在苏丹首都喀土穆以东的抗议活动中,当燃烧的轮胎冒出滚滚浓烟时,苏丹示威者举着鼓。
然而,迄今为止,一切都没有改变。作为与美国大使馆爆炸案受害者谈判解决方案的一部分,苏丹预计将很快向美国移交3.35亿美元。巴希尔政权为基地组织成员提供了安全避难所,这些成员对造成224人死亡的袭击负有责任,其中包括12名美国人,4000多人受伤。
特朗普尚未正式通知国会他将取消这一任命,立法者将有能力阻止这一任命。这不太可能发生,但国会将不得不通过立法解决对苏丹的持续索赔,重建其“合法和平”——这一法律术语意味着作为一个主权国家,它不能被起诉。
苏丹在支持恐怖主义国家名单上的名单放弃了这一豁免权,但在国会归还之前,一些议员担心保护9.11袭击受害者正在进行的诉讼,尽管苏丹从未被发现对这些负有责任。解决这些问题的协议上个月崩溃了消息人士当时告诉美国广播公司新闻。
伊迪丝·巴特利的父亲和兄弟在内罗毕袭击中丧生,她是被杀美国人家庭的发言人,她周一对这一消息表示欢迎。
“我们敦促国会立即通过实施该协议所需的立法,并开始支付过程。国会不能让这项协议成为立法僵局和争吵的牺牲品,”她在一份声明中说。
法新社通过盖蒂图像,文件
2019年4月8日,在苏丹首都喀土穆,抗议者聚集在军事总部前,敦促军方加入要求领导人奥马尔·巴希尔辞职的呼吁。
1993年,苏丹因巴希尔支持真主党和其他伊斯兰极端组织而首次被指认。这位独裁者现在被拘留在首都喀土穆,还面临国际刑事法院对达尔富尔种族灭绝的指控。
取消这一称号还将允许国际金融援助最终流向苏丹,不仅来自美国,还包括世界银行和国际货币基金组织等全球机构。
虽然这可能最早需要几周时间,但过渡政府的政治胜利可能有助于避免人民日益增长的不满情绪。高通胀、食品和燃料短缺令苏丹不堪重负,这些挑战因以下因素而加剧新冠肺炎(新型冠状病毒肺炎)以及最近的洪水。
苏丹内阁通过美联社,文件
2020年8月25日,在苏丹首都喀土穆,国务卿迈克·蓬佩奥与苏丹执政的最高委员会主席阿卜杜勒·法塔赫·布尔罕将军站在一起。
“太感谢你了,川普总统!我们非常期待你正式通知国会撤销苏丹作为支持恐怖主义国家的指定,这给苏丹带来了太多的损失,”总理阿卜杜拉·哈姆多克周一在推特上说。“当我们即将摆脱苏丹前政权最沉重的遗产时,我应该重申,我们是热爱和平的人民,从来没有支持过恐怖主义。”
白宫和国务院尚未公布其他细节。但据两位了解该计划的分析师称,美国还将采取其他关键步骤支持苏丹政府,包括提供数亿美元的援助,包括直接粮食援助;支持30亿美元的债务减免,并帮助偿还650亿美元的国债;并赞助一个由美国高级贸易代表团参加的投资会议。
“如果政府真正致力于促进苏丹的民主过渡,避免金融崩溃,阻止军事统治的恢复,这些事情中的大部分应该已经准备好了。”书写卡梅伦·哈德森,大西洋理事会非洲中心的高级研究员。“相反,特朗普政府让过渡政府一直在猜测,苏丹人民的挫折感越来越强,如果文职当局不这样做,军方准备介入,以确保达成最终协议。”
其核心是特朗普推动阿拉伯国家承认以色列。以色列、阿拉伯联合酋长国和巴林之间的这些历史性协议使闭门造车的合作正式化,并被特朗普及其连任竞选团队挥舞,以证明他的政治家风范。
但哈姆多克表示,他的过渡政府无权与以色列建立正式关系,喀土穆方面对此深感担忧。相反,苏丹可能会在未来几周开始与以色列实现关系正常化,但不会完全建立关系。
Trump says US will remove sanctions on Sudan in historic new chapter in relations
PresidentDonald Trumptweeted that he will remove Sudan from the state sponsors of terrorism list -- the most stringent of U.S. sanctions -- in a historic move that marks a new chapter in relations between the two countries.
In exchange, Sudan's new government has paid $335 millionto the victimsof the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies inKenyaand Tanzania.
The move is part of a broader deal that could bring debt relief, international financial assistance, and humanitarian aid to the African country, a year and a half after peaceful protests ousted its longtime strongman leader Omar al Bashir. In his place, military leaders are sharing power with civilians in a transitional government that has struggled with political and economic crises and urgently sought the end of these sanctions.
The deal may also include Sudan normalizing relations with Israel -- a step that its civilian prime minister has said the transitional government could not make, but that Trump has lobbied hard for in a campaign-season push to create new ties between the Jewish state and its Arab neighbors.
Sudanese demonstrators carrying a drum gesture as smoke billows from burning tires during a protest east of the capital Khartoum, Sudan, June 30, 2020.
So far, however, nothing has changed. Sudan is expected to transfer the $335 million to the U.S. soon as part of a negotiated settlement with the victims of the U.S. embassy bombings. Bashir's regime provided safe haven to the al-Qaeda operatives responsible for the attacks that killed 224, including 12 Americans and injured over 4,000.
Trump has not yet formally notified Congress that he is lifting the designation, and lawmakers would have the ability to block it. That's not likely to happen, but Congress will have to resolve ongoing claims against Sudan in legislation that re-establishes its "legal peace" -- a legal term that means as a sovereign country, it cannot be sued.
Sudan's listing on the state sponsors of terrorism list waived that immunity, but before Congress returns it, some lawmakers have concerns about protecting ongoing litigation by victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, even though Sudan has never been found liable for those. An agreement to resolve those issuesfell apart last month, sources told ABC News at the time.
Edith Bartley, whose father and brother were killed in the Nairobi attack and who has served as a spokesperson for the families of slain Americans, welcomed the news Monday.
"We urge Congress to immediately pass the legislation that is needed to implement the agreement, and begin the payment process. Congress cannot let this agreement fall victim to legislative gridlock and bickering," she said in a statement.
Protesters rally in front of the military headquarters, urging the military to join calls for leader Omar al-Bashir's resignation, in the capital Khartoum, Sudan, April 8, 2019.
Sudan was first designated in 1993 for Bashir's support of Hezbollah and other Islamist extremist groups. The dictator, now in detention in the capital Khartoum, also faces charges at the International Criminal Court for the Darfur genocide.
Lifting the designation will also allow international financial assistance to finally flow to Sudan -- not just from the U.S., but also global institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
While that may take weeks at the earliest, the political win for the transitional government may help stave off growing discontent among a population struggling to get by. Sudan has been overwhelmed by high inflation and food and fuel shortages -- challenges that have been exacerbated byCOVID-19and recent flooding.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stands with Sudanese Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the head of the ruling sovereign council, in Khartoum, Sudan, Aug. 25, 2020.
"Thank you so much, President Trump! We very much look forward to your official notification to Congress rescinding the designation of Sudan as a state-sponsor of terrorism, which has cost Sudan too much," tweeted Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok Monday. "As we're about to get rid of the heaviest legacy of Sudan's previous, defunct regime, I should reiterate that we are peace-loving people and have never supported terrorism."
The White House and the State Department have not yet released other details. But according to two analysts briefed on the plans, the U.S. will also take other key steps to support the Sudanese government, including providing hundreds of millions in aid, including direct food aid; backing $3 billion in debt forgiveness and help with $65 billion of national debt; and sponsoring an investment conference with a high-level U.S. trade delegation.
"Most of these things would have already been in train if the Administration was truly committed to nurturing Sudan's democratic transition, staving off financial collapse, and deterring the return of military rule,"wroteCameron Hudson, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Africa Center. "Instead, the Trump Administration has kept the transitional government guessing, the Sudanese people's frustration mounting, and the military poised to step in to secure a final deal if the civilian authorities did not."
At the heart of that has been Trump's push for Arab countries to recognize Israel. Those historic agreements, between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, have formalized increasing cooperation behind closed doors -- and been brandished by Trump and his reelection campaign as evidence of his statesmanship.
But Hamdok has said his transitional government doesn't have the authority to establish formal ties with Israel, and there's deep concern of a backlash in Khartoum to doing so. Instead, Sudan may begin to normalize relations with Israel in the coming weeks, without fully establishing ties.