Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir gives a press conference in the
presidential palace in the capital Khartoum, on March 2, 2017. PHOTO |
ASHRAF SHAZLY | AFP
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday opted to extend by three
months the deadline on whether to lift decades-old sanctions against
Sudan, saying "more time is needed" for review.
Trump
was to decide by Wednesday whether to permanently lift Washington's
sanctions on Sudan after his predecessor Barack Obama eased the embargo
in January but kept Khartoum on a six-month review period.
In his executive order Trump amended the deadline to October 12, 2017.
Obama
made the permanent lifting of sanctions dependent on Khartoum's
progress on five areas of concern at the end of the review period.
"I
have decided more time is needed for this review to establish that the
Government of Sudan has demonstrated sufficient positive action across
all of those areas," Trump's order said, adding that "the Government of
Sudan has made some progress."
Washington imposed a complex set of economic sanctions on Sudan in 1997 for its alleged backing of Islamist militant groups.
Al-Qaeda
leader Osama bin Laden, who was killed in a US commando raid in
Pakistan in 2011, was based in Khartoum from 1992 to 1996.
Washington
also justified the embargo with accusations of scorched-earth tactics
by Khartoum against ethnic minority rebels in war-torn Darfur.
At
least 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced since a
brutal conflict erupted in Darfur in 2003, the United Nations says.
Prior
to Trump's measure the UN said it hoped the US would make a "positive
decision" on sanctions against Sudan for allowing more humanitarian aid
access across war zones as sought.
Giving more access
to humanitarian workers was one of the five conditions Obama insisted
Sudan must meet before the sanctions can be lifted permanently.
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