The removal of Sudan from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism is expected within days, according to a statement made by a US official.
He affirmed that there are serious negotiations between the US administration and Congress in this regard, noting that passing the immunity bill might however be subject to postponement.
The official, who preferred to remain anonymous, told a group of Sudanese journalists, through a video conference, that Sudan will be removed from the list by Dec. 14 ruling out any possible objection by the Congress.
The US administration admitted earlier that Sudan had implemented all the conditions for removing it from the US list.
Sudan deposited in a joint account an amount of USD335 million to American terror victims and their families at USS Cole in 2000, victims of the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and for the killing of John Granville, an official with the US Agency for International Development, who was killed in 2008.
Sudan's conditions for paying the compensations were: removing it from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism and passing an immunity law to obstruct any future prosecutions against it in compensation cases.
The US official reassured the Sudanese that the deposited amount won’t be paid to the victims before passing the immunity bill, unlike the rumors circulating on the Sudanese social media and local media.
He added that talks are ongoing between the US administration and Congress to pass the immunity bill during the remaining term of the current Congress. In case of failure to do so, the bill will be proposed before the new Congress in January.
As for the link between normalizing ties with Israel and removing Sudan from the list, the official refused to disclose any connection between the two matters.
