US to strike Sudan off terrorism blacklist

Daily Times (Pakistan) ^ | September 29, 2003 | AFP

[Jacob Kell]

KHARTOUM: The United States has agreed to lift its sanctions on Sudan and remove the country from its list of nations sponsoring terrorism, independent Al Rai Al Aam daily reported Saturday.

Reporting from New York, the newspaper quoted Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail as saying “lifting the sanctions and taking the Sudan’s name from the list of terrorism have been agreed upon and what remains now is the timing of making those steps.” The agreement was reached after meetings Ismail held with several US officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Walter Kansteiner, the newspaper reported. On Friday, the United States lauded a security agreement reached this week between the Sudanese government and the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLA/M), calling it an “historic” accord that should boost efforts for permanent settlement of the conflict. The rebels led by John Garang, and Khartoum, signed the agreement on Thursday in Kenya. It was seen as a key step towards a full peace agreement that would put an end to the longest and one of the bloodiest civil wars in Africa. Sudan’s civil war erupted in 1983 when the SPLA/M took up arms to end domination of the mainly Christian and animist south by the Muslim north. It has since killed more than 1.5 million people and displaced four million others.

The United States has been pressing both sides to negotiate in good faith and has threatened to tighten sanctions against Khatoum and step up assistance to the rebels should it determine the government is not cooperating in the peace process. —AFP

[Jacob Kell]

I wouldn't trust Bashir and his bunch if they said rain was wet. They have a habit of making truces and breaking them. As Angelus Errare said, Bashir makes Arafat look like a paragon of consistency.

[SunStar]

I wouldn't trust Bashir and his bunch if they said rain was wet. They have a habit of making truces and breaking them.

We'll figure this out in 20 years and call it "blowback".

[thegreatbeast]

They better be handing us Saddam's head on a platter and it better be gilded!

[LA Conservative]

So I guess we'll just ignore the active slave trade going on in the islamic part of that country to further bolster our reputation as liberators.

I don't get it.

[Truth666]

Nice thoughts to calm down before sleeping.

[SpaceBar]

I suppose being a country home to some of the worst Christian persecution in modern history isn't important in the larger scheme of things. It's just another example of molly-codling a bloodthirsty government for short term gains in the form of intelligence cooperation of a quality no doubt dubious at best.

[Angelus Errare]

This had best just be wishful thinking on the part of the Arabic daily.

http://homepage.mac.com/naoyuki_hashimoto/iblog/C1570102516/E539111948/

May 31, 2003

"Similarly, in recent months, Al Qaeda has reorganized bases of operation in a number of other places, including Kenya, Sudan and Chechnya, according to senior counterterrorism officials in Washington, Europe and the Middle East."

Sudan is rearming the LRA (not al-Qaeda, but by all rights terrorist):

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3182133.stm

Eritrea says Sudan sponsors al-Qaeda:

http://english.daralhayat.com/world_news/08-2003/Article-20030823-2e988894-c0a8-01ed-003d-9de34b93d67a/story.html

Malawi terror suspects in Sudan:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3092973.stm

Al-Qaeda Reorganizing:
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/ITeamInsider_030523.html

"Already, several intelligence reports recently quoted by European officials indicate that al Qaeda's new leaders have reorganized bases of operations in at least a half-dozen locations, including Chechnya, Kenya, Sudan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh."

Al-Qaeda Reorganizing:

http://aljazeerah.info/News%20archives/2003%20News%20archives/May%202003%20News/18%20n/Al-Qaeda%20Reorganizing,%20Training%20New%20Recruits.htm

"Authorities believe Al-Qaeda has opened new training camps in Sudan and established “a strong foothold” in Kenya and other parts of East Africa.

Pakistan and Chechnya are also sites of “reorganized bases of operations,” the report said."

Al-Qaeda prepares to attack:
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/05/17/1052885450283.html

"Leaders and operatives of al-Qaeda have reorganised bases of operations in at least half-a-dozen locations, including Kenya, Sudan, Pakistan and Chechnya, counterterrorism officials said on Friday.

The leaders have begun to recruit members, train the new followers and plan attacks on Western targets, according to senior officials in Washington, Europe and the Middle East."

And we're taking them off the terror list ... why?

[BenR2]

Our Government could care less that Khartoum is sytematically practicing genocide against the black Christians in the South of Sudan.

Jerry Falwell was right (BEFORE his misguided retraction): Our own sins have opened the door to attack by our enemies.

Why should the God of the Bible NOT lift his hand of protection from a country whose leaders have no regard for Him -- or His people?

The Bible teaches that God is slow to anger -- but He WILL get there eventually with any people or individual that continually gives him the finger.

[Jacob Kell]

Consider the source, guys. It's a Pakistani paper, more importantly, it got this story from I believe an Arab newspaper. I tend to take Arab media with not just the proverbal grain of salt, but with the entire shaker. After all, they do run wacko conspiracy theories, like saying that the Mossad was behind 9/11, among others.