The US has officially removed Sudan from the list of countries considered as sponsors of terrorism, today Dec 14.

This announcement by the US embassy in Khartoum is the result of a long process initiated by Sudan to get off this list. It comes after the expiration of the deadline given to the U.S. Congress to decide on Donald Trump's decision to remove the East African country from the blacklist of countries sponsoring terrorism. The institution had 45 days to examine and validate the law that would ratify the White House's decision.  

“The Secretary of State has signed a notification stating that the rescission of Sudan's State Sponsor of Terrorism designation is effective as of today (December 14), to be published in the Federal Register," the embassy said.

In recent months, the Sovereignty Council of Sudan, established since the fall of General Omar al-Bashir, has multiplied actions aimed at improving relations between Khartoum and the White House.

After signing a historic peace agreement with several rebel groups to end the bloody conflict in the Darfur region, the authorities agreed to pay $335 million to remove the country from the list of sponsors of terrorism as compensation to American victims of terrorism and their families. Also, a peace agreement was signed with Israel, a now-former enemy of Sudan.

With this new decision, the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok (pictured, right) hopes to mobilize new funding to accelerate reforms to revive the Sudanese economy and implement development projects.

As a reminder, a few days before the November 3 election, which he lost, Donald Trump had decided to extend the US sanctions against Sudan for one year.

Moutiou Adjibi Nourou