US offers a way off terrorism list. Is price right for Sudanese?
Having toppled a dictator, moved toward a civilian government, and secured a peace deal between military and rebel forces, the Sudanese are looking to take one more step toward coming in from the cold: getting off the U.S. terrorism list.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo – during a diplomatic swing through the Middle East – offered last week to lift the terrorism label off post-revolution Sudan in return for $330 million in compensation for Al Qaeda attacks from over two decades ago.
The U.S. offer has been met positively by Sudan’s transitional government, reports indicate. But among Sudanese citizens mired in an economic recession and lingering poverty that is a legacy of ousted dictator Omar al-Bashir’s destructive 30-year rule, the U.S. proposal is also encountering some resistance.
One year into a fragile three-year
CompensationRighting Bashir’s wrongsEconomic priceRemnants of dictatorship