US keeps Khartoum on terror blacklist

The United States said on Tuesday that Sudan had taken some positive steps against terrorism, but had not made sufficient progress to be removed from the US's blacklist of terrorist-sponsoring nations.

Sudan was one of two countries which seemed "closest to understanding what they must do to get out of the terrorism business", and had "taken measures pointing in the right direction", the US State Department said in its Annual Global Terrorism Report.

Khartoum said on Wednesday that the US' contention that Sudan supports terrorism was erroneous and removed from the facts.

"The government has taken numerous measures in this regard... so Sudan staying on this list of states sponsoring terrorism is a baseless accusation," the official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) quoted Minister of State for Foreign Relations Chol Deng Alak as saying.

The other country named as making serious anti-terrorism efforts was Libya, which is a joint sponsor, with Egypt, of a set of proposals aimed at ending Sudan's 19-year civil war.

The Sudanese government had stepped up its counter-terrorism operation in collaboration with a number of US agencies, and had investigated and arrested "extremists suspected of involvement in terrorist activities", the report said.

But international terrorist groups including Al-Qaeda, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and Al-Jama'at al-Islamiyyah and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas had continued to use Sudan as a haven, primarily for conducting logistical and other support activities, it added.

Last month, the US also expressed concern over a speech by Sudanese President Umar Hasan al-Bashir in which he called for the establishment of camps to train militants for the Palestinian intifadah, or uprising, against Israel. Washington was informed by the Sudanese government that "there was no intention of setting up camps to train militants", according to the US State Department.

However, the US also made clear to Khartoum that if the Sudanese government was serious about improving its international standing and improving its relations with the United States, "it must cease the rhetoric of jihad [Islamic holy war] and violence", it added.

Diplomats and analysts say that Sudan is inching its way back into the international fold, eager to shed its isolation, reap the economic benefits of its oil resources and end unilateral US sanctions. Meanwhile the west, including the US, is keen to swop an isolationist policy for constructive engagement, thereby reducing the possibility of violent Islamic radicalism within Sudan or exported from the country.

The US list of seven state sponsors of terrorism - Cuba, Libya, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Sudan and Syria - has been unchanged since 1993, when Sudan was added to the list.

The seven nations listed are subject to a number of US sanctions, including: prohibitions on economic assistance; the opposition by the US of loans by the World Bank and other financial institutions; and a ban on arms-related exports and sales.

The United Nations Security Council in September lifted diplomatic sanctions against Sudan, imposed five years ago to force Sudan to hand over suspects in an assassination attempt on Egyptian President Husni Mubarak.

In its statement on lifting the sanctions, the Council noted Sudan's recent efforts to combat terrorism, and its accession to two conventions for the elimination of terrorist activities: the 1997 International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorism and the 1999 International Convention for the Suppression of Financing Terrorism.

The resolution to remove the restrictions was adopted by the 15-member Council with 14 votes in favour, and one abstention - from the US.

US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Walter Kansteiner, told journalists on Monday that, although the US had restricted support for the Sudanese government, it would commit financial and human resources to peace efforts in Sudan.

Support would be extended to the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD)-sponsored regional peace process, currently chaired by Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi, with the former Kenyan army chief of staff, Lazarus Sumbeiywo, acting as envoy.

Kansteiner also said the US administration was looking into plans to upgrade diplomatic representation in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and to provide additional administrative support for the peace process.

In his report to US President Bush on the outlook for peace in Sudan, US special peace envoy to Sudan, John Danforth, recommended that Washington "enhance" its diplomatic presence in Khartoum, in order to be effective in a sustained peace process.

The US withdrew its last ambassador from Khartoum before Washington launched missile strikes against targets in Sudan in August 1998 after the bombings of the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya.

Following a meeting with Danforth on Monday, Bush praised the special envoy for making "considerable progress" in bringing the warring parties closer to the negotiating table, and called for full compliance with Danforth's four confidence-building measures.

"The government of Sudan cannot make empty promises while continuing to wage war against its own people. It must stop interfering with food deliveries. It must honour its commitments to Senator Danforth. It must accept that it cannot win the war. It must seek peace," Bush added.