US Removes Sudan From One Terror List; They Remain on Another

(MENAFN.com) – The United States Tuesday removed Sudan from a list of governments that do not cooperate with U.S. efforts to fight terrorism. Sudan , however, would remain on a second list of “state sponsors of terrorism” that bans U.S. arms trade with the African country. Soon after removing Sudan from the first list, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell complained that Sudan was not allowing humanitarian assistance to reach strife-torn Darfur region. “Sudan has taken a number of positive steps on cooperation against terrorism over the past few years,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told a briefing in Washington . “The U.S.-Sudanese bilateral counter terrorism information sharing has improved remarkably.” The spokesman then added that Sudan would remain on the state terrorism list because of the presence of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the country and because of “some other concerns.” Despite Sudan ‘s removal from the list of governments that do not cooperate with the United States in the war against terror, U.S. officials have made it clear they still have several reservations about that country. One of the major issues being debated with Sudan is the need for immediate humanitarian relief to refugees in the western Darfur region. U.S. and U.N. officials estimate that government-supported Arab militias have killed more than 10,000 African Muslims in Darfur since last summer. The fighting also forced about 1 million people to leave their homes and seek refuge in neighboring Chad and in other places inside Sudan . A truce reached about a month ago was to have ended the fighting but more violence has been reported in recent days.