The US has extended economic sanctions imposed on Sudan in 1997 for another year.
In a message published on the White House website,
President Barack Obama notified the US congress of his decision to
continue the implementation of the sanctions.
“The Sudan emergency is to continue in effect beyond November 3, 2013,” President Obama told the Congress.
“The crisis constituted by the actions and
policies of the Government of Sudan that led to the declaration of a
national emergency in Executive Order 13067 of November 3, 1997, and the
expansion of that emergency in Executive Order 13400 of April 26, 2006,
and with respect to which additional steps were taken in Executive
Order 13412 of October 13, 2006, has not been resolved,” President Obama
pointed out.
Reacting to the news, Sudanese government
condemned the decision, saying it was a big threat to peace and social
security of the country.
“The government has rejected the decision of the
American President to renew the American unilateral sanctions against
Sudan for another year, as well as the justifications given by the US
President for renewing these sanctions,” the spokesman of the Sudanese
ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Abubakr Alsidiq, told journalists in
Khartoum on Thursday.
Aid stakeholders
Observers say that the American sanctions had
adversely affected the Sudanese economy, leading to the collapse of many
sectors such as transport.
The country has also faced many difficulties in
importing spare parts, technology, agricultural machines, and
communication and quality control tools.
Last September, diplomatic tension erupted after
US administration refused to grant a visa to Sudanese President Omar
al-Bashir to attend the UN General Assembly in New York.
Although US is a partner in all the peace deals in
Sudan and one of the main aid stakeholders in the country, its
relationship with Khartoum has been on and off.
Washington is the main member of the sponsors of
the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between Sudan and South Sudan, signed
in 2005, that led to the independence of the latter in 2011.
The American sanctions were imposed in 1997 by the HW Bush administration.
US has also put Sudan on the American list of the countries which sponsor terrorism.
SOURCE: AFRICA REVIEW
SOURCE: AFRICA REVIEW
