TLTP
KHARTOUM
Sudan’s transitional government secured a major victory in Congress on Monday night that will see Khartoum receive partial immunity, marking a turning point in its relations with the United States.
Almost two months since US President Donald Trump announced the deal with Khartoum on October 23, promising restoration of Sudan’s sovereign immunity, and removal from the state department list of “state sponsors of terror” that it’s been on since 1993, Congress will be voting on the “Sudan Claims Resolution” that addresses both. In return, Sudan would pay $335 million to compensate over the US victims of Al Qaeda attacks in 1998 in Kenya and Tanzania that Khartoum backed. Sudan would also start political and economic relations with Israel.
The Sudan resolution is included in the $900 billion coronavirus relief package that Congress is set to vote on tonight ahead of adjourning for the end of the year. It is expected to pass with bipartisan support.
The 20-page-bill, is carefully drafted in a way that honors the deal that the White House made with Sudan’s transitional government, while at the same time grants compromises that few Senators were seeking for families of the victims in terror attacks involving the deposed Omar Al Bashir Government.
For the families, the bill preserves “the rights of 9/11 [September 11 terror attack] victims and families by allowing the 9/11 multi-district litigation to continue unharmed.” It also goes beyond US citizens that were impacted at the time and extends protections to those naturalized which was a major sticking point between the Trump administration and the Senate.
“Securing $150,000,000 for dozens of naturalised US citizen victims and family members of the East Africa Embassy bombings, which was necessary because the Trump administration’s deal with Sudan compensated naturalized US citizen terrorism victims at a rate that was approximately 90 percent less than natural-born US citizens,” a summary of the bill read.
For Sudan and its young transitional government, the bill secures US help of $700 million in assistance and $230 million in debt relief. It highlights “recognition by Congress that the United States needs to support Sudan’s democratic transition, particularly in light of the country’s dire economic situation.” Sudan also was removed from the US state sponsors of terrorism list last week after 27 years on being designated.
Cameron Hudson, a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and Former Chief of Staff for the US Special Envoy to Sudan, saw the deal as major progress in US-Sudan relations. “It means that Sudan has partial restoration of its immunity, but also has allocated assistance… A huge will at the cost of a small compromise,” Mr Hudson said. “With this deal, the US becomes a financial and political partner in Sudan’s success. It fundamentally redefines the relationship.”
