In an interview with the Financial Times published on Sunday, October 11, Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok struck his fist on the table. The head of government accuses the Americans of “paralyzing” the country’s economy and keeping it on the blacklist of countries that support terrorism and even hamper its democratization.
For the Sudanese Prime Minister, to keep his country on US blacklist is unfair. Not only because it is more than 20 years since Osama bin Laden was expelled from the country – it was the fact that he had protected him in the 1990s that triggered these sanctions – but also to the extent that Omar el-Bashir, who hosted the leader of al-Qaeda at the time, has since been overthrown.
“The Sudanese were never terrorists, that was the job of the old regime,” Abdallah Hamdok told the Financial Times. These warnings, which “isolate” Sudan and undermine its economy, pose, he warns, a “danger on the way” in the country “against democracy”.
In passing, the main Sudanese government rejects the hypothesis of a possible recognition of Israel by Khartoum in return for his country’s removal from the United States blacklist. “We want these issues to be addressed separately,” he says.
As for the legal fate reserved for former dictator Omar al-Bashir, Abdallah Hamdok says he has discussed with the International Criminal Court the possibility of setting up a “hybrid court” in Sudan consisting of both Sudanese judges and the ICC. But he maintains that “the best option would be to reform the Sudanese legal system” so that he can be tried in his country.
Omar al-Bashir is currently being prosecuted in Khartoum for his coup from 1989. But the ICC still demands it. She will try him for war crimes and genocide crimes during the Darfur war.
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