US To Lift Sanctions On Sudan

The United States will lift a myriad of economic sanctions against Sudan next Thursday, marking a significant warming of relations with a country whose leader has been charged with genocide by the International Criminal Court.

Some of the sanctions in question were temporarily lifted in January, allowing Sudan to purchase US goods as long as it continued to show progress on five so-called “tracks,” which include maintaining regional ceasefires, enhancing counterterrorism cooperation, and improving humanitarian access.

“Going forward, we’re going to engage the government of Sudan to ensure that there’s no regression on its positive actions to date,” the official said, “and secondly, to work for continued progress, both on the issues in the five track areas, and to advance additional administration priorities.”

That decision was aimed, in part, at increasing the pressure on Sudan to break off relations with North Korea, from whom they were recently accused of buying weapons by a United Nations panel.