Pay to Play: Sudan to Leave State Terror List

US President Donald Trump announced that the United States will remove Sudan from its State Sponsors of Terrorism list after the Sudanese government makes payments of $335 million in compensation to US victims and families of terror attacks in which its former government had a role. President Trump tweeted, “Great news!” and noted that the new government in Khartoum had “agreed” to pay the sum. When Sudan is taken off the list, on which it has been for 27 years, it becomes eligible for urgently needed debt relief and financing from major international banking and funding agencies that it has been unable to access due to its status. Sudan’s new prime minister, Abdallah Hamdok, wrote in a follow-up tweet to President Trump, “We very much look forward to your official notification to Congress rescinding the designation of Sudan as a state-sponsor of terrorism, which has cost Sudan too much.” Removal from the list is a priority for Sudan’s new government, which came to power in August 2019 following the removal of longtime President Omar al-Bashir. The deal may also be related to establishing diplomatic relations with Israel, though Sudan is insisting that there is no linkage between the delisting and the warming of diplomatic relations.