This archive report was first published on 15 January 2020.
Published on January 15, 2020, the US State Department has made it clear that payment of reparations for victims of terrorism is a priority for Washington as it considers removing Sudan from a US blacklist.
US officials have been in talks with Sudanese Foreign Minister Asma Mohamed Abdalla, with the two sides discussing the 'relevant policy and statutory criteria for rescission of Sudan's State Sponsor of Terrorism designation.'
The US has been considering removing Sudan from the list of countries deemed backers of terrorism since 1993, when Sudan granted safe haven to Osama bin Laden.
However, in recent years, Washington has allowed warmer relations with Sudan, citing progress in the fight against terrorism, and in 2017, it lifted a 20-year-old economic embargo.
Since the overthrow of long-time dictator Omar al-Bashir in April 2019, the process of removing Sudan from the blacklist could go even faster, with Sudan officials seeing winning Washington's blessing as important for economic growth.
Under Secretary for Political Affairs David Hale believes that 'compensation for the victims of terrorism remains a priority for the US government,' and that this would involve financial reparations to families of people killed or injured in attacks against the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998.
US judges have said Sudan is effectively to blame for the blasts, and court battles and negotiations are underway on damages, which have been set by US courts in the billions of dollars.
