Sudan and US Sign Agreement Restoring Sudan’s Sovereign Immunity

Washington (SUNA) – The United States of America and Sudan signed on Friday evening a bilateral agreement to settle the cases filed against Sudan in American courts, which include the bombing of the two embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.

The government of Sudan reaffirmed in the agreement, which was signed at the premises of US State Department, that Sudan is not responsible for these attacks, but in its desire to normalize and develop its relations with the United States, it agreed to enter into a settlement to address the complex legal reality that these cases left and its implications for Sudan now and in the future.

 Under this agreement, Sudan agreed to pay an amount of $ 335 million to be placed in a joint guarantee account until the United States, on its part, fulfills its obligations to complete the procedures for Sudan to obtain its sovereign immunity after leaving the list of states sponsoring terrorism.

According to this agreement, judicial rulings issued against Sudan amounting to more than ten billion dollars to compensate the victims in these cases are to be dropped, and future lawsuits against Sudan are prevented and its sovereign immunity is affirmed, and thus its legal status is like all countries that do not fall on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism.

  This agreement also marks the culmination of lengthy negotiations that took place between Sudan and the United States for more than a year.

Director General of European and American Affairs Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and head of the Sudanese negotiating delegation Ambassador Mohamed Abdallah Al-Tom signed the agreement on behalf of the Government of Sudan, while US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Tibor Najy signed for the American side.

It is worth noting that this agreement is the basis for President Trump’s decision to remove Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism last Friday, and it opens the doors to fully normal relations between Sudan and the United States and liberates the country from the yoke of the past related to the period of Sudan’s presence on the list of terrorism and closes the doors to any future attempts to initiate measures against Sudan in cases related to terrorism retroactively.