US seeks end to Darfur sanctions on Sudan after Israel recognition

WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the United States will seek to end UN sanctions on Sudan over the conflict in Darfur as the new government makes peace.

The promise is another sign that the United States is eager to reward Sudan after it agreed to recognize Israel — a decision made at the urging of US President Donald Trump’s administration as it moved to delist Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Pompeo says the year-old civilian-backed government had made “substantial improvements” in human rights including in Darfur, the parched western region where the former dictatorship carried out a scorched-earth military campaign.

“The United States is committed to working with the Sudanese government and our international partners to identify circumstances that could result in lifting sanctions related to the Darfur conflict at the earliest opportunity,” Pompeo says in a statement.

“We have already begun consultations at the UN with this objective in mind.”

— AFP