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U.S. Denies Sudan’s Claim of Timetable for Normalization

The United States has rejected a Sudanese government claim, according to which the two countries would achieve normalization within the next four to six months.
 
"That is not correct," said U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey in a briefing to journalists.
 
"We expect for there to really be progress in our bilateral relations with Sudan, that Sudan would remove the existing obstacles and cooperate fully with the deployment with the UNIMID forces, with the combined AU/UN hybrid force, and that they also take the kinds of concrete steps to halt violence by the Janjaweed and others in Darfur," added Casey.
 
The American response followed a statement by Sudanese Foreign Minister Deng Alor last Tuesday, who told reporters there was a set timetable for a maximum of six months until normalization between the U.S. and Sudan was achieved.
 
Alor made his comments after his meeting with the U.S. special envoy to Sudan, Richard Williamson.
 
Williamson arrived in Khartoum on Sunday and is scheduled to meet with Sudanese officials as well as United Nations officials and members of non-governmental organizations based in Sudan.
 
The U.S. imposed economic sanctions on Khartoum in 1997 and has designated Sudan a state sponsor of terrorism.