DUBAI - Saudi Arabia has asked the United
States to remove Sudan from its list of state sponsors of
terrorism, Saudi state TV said on Wednesday, citing Minister of
State for African Affairs Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz Qattan.
The U.S. government added Sudan to its list of state sponsors
of terrorism in 1993 over allegations that then-President Omar
al-Bashir’s Islamist government was supporting terrorist groups.
The designation makes Sudan technically ineligible for debt
relief and financing from the International Monetary Fund and
World Bank. Congress needs to approve a removal.
Bashir was toppled by the military last year. A civilian
transitional government, formed in August, agreed with the
United States that it could start engaging with international
institutions while still on the list.
Saudi Arabia supported the overthrow of Bashir, in what
analysts believed reflected its coordinated efforts with the
United Arab Emirates to curtail the regional influence of the
Muslim Brotherhood, who backed his regime.