US reinstates Sudan’s sovereign immunity, authorizes funds to help pay debt

Sudanese youths wave the national flag as they rally in the streets of the capital Khartoum, chanting slogans and burning tires, to mark the second anniversary of the start of a revolt that toppled the previous government on Dec. 19, 2020. (File/AFP)
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Updated 22 December 2020
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US reinstates Sudan’s sovereign immunity, authorizes funds to help pay debt

  • The legislation includes an exemption allowing lawsuits by the families of victims of the 9/11 attack
  • The state sponsor of terror designation was in place for almost three decades

CAIRO/WASHINGTON: The United States on Monday reinstated Sudan’s sovereign immunity, as the US Congress passed legislation formalizing the move, following the ending of Sudan’s designation as a state sponsor of terror.
However, the legislation includes an exemption allowing lawsuits by the families of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States already underway in US courts to move forward, although experts say Sudan is unlikely to lose those cases.
The state sponsor of terror designation, which was in place for almost three decades, had weighed on Sudan’s economy and restricted its ability to receive aid. For investors, the reinstating of sovereign immunity removes another layer of financial risk.
Sudan had been engaged in talks with the United States for months, and paid a negotiated $335 million settlement to victims of Al-Qaeda attacks on US embassies in East Africa in 1998 who had been awarded much higher damages by US courts.
The process to release the settlement money and restore Sudan’s sovereign immunity — protection against being sued in American courts — had been stalled in the US Congress as it had been tied to the $892 billion coronavirus aid package.
Late on Monday, the wider package was passed in the US Congress after a deal has been worked out in a rare weekend session, and sent to President Donald Trump to sign into law.
According to the bill, Washington will be authorizing $111 million to pay off part of Sudan’s bilateral debt, and $120 to help pay off its debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) while making another $700 million available until September 2022 for assistance to the country.
Last week, Sudan’s finance minister announced a US “bridge loan” that would allow Sudan to clear $1 billion in arrears to the World Bank.
A US source familiar with the matter said the debt assistance would help kick off Sudan’s debt relief on a global level, helping make it eligible for the IMF’s Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) program.
With the reinstatement of sovereign immunity and the financial aid, Khartoum will now be “on the hook,” to normalize ties with Israel, a US source familiar with the matter said, a move it has agreed to under US pressure.
In a joint statement in October, Israel and Sudan said they had agreed to normalize relations and end the state of belligerence between the two countries, but Sudan’s civilian leaders have said the final decision would be in the hands of a yet-to-be-formed transitional legislature.
The normalization would make Sudan one of the four Arab countries along with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, over the past several months, to establish relations with Israel in deals brokered with US help.
The bill also appropriates an additional $150 million for Sudan’s settlement payment, in order to redistribute the funds in a way the bill’s sponsors say is more equitable.
The United States designated Sudan a state sponsor of terrorism in 1993 on the grounds that former President Omar Al-Bashir’s regime was supporting militant groups including Al-Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah.
In the 1990s, the regime became a pariah, hosting Osama bin Laden and positioning itself as a fulcrum for Islamist movements, although experts still say Sudan’s liability for the Sept. 11 attacks is questionable.


Egypt backs ‘pressure on Israel’ but says Gaza actions need approval

Updated 11 sec ago
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Egypt backs ‘pressure on Israel’ but says Gaza actions need approval

CAIRO: Egypt said on Wednesday that it backs efforts to put “pressure on Israel” to lift its blockade on Gaza, but added that any foreign delegations seeking to visit the border area must receive prior approval through official channels.
Egypt “asserts the importance of putting pressure on Israel to end the blockade on the (Gaza) Strip,” the foreign ministry said as hundreds of activists in a Gaza-bound convoy head to the Egyptian border on their way to the besieged Palestinian territory, but added “we will not consider any requests or respond to any invitations submitted outside the framework defined by the regulatory guidelines and the mechanisms followed in this regard.”

Israeli strike kills one in Lebanon’s south

Updated 8 min 47 sec ago
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Israeli strike kills one in Lebanon’s south

  • Health ministry says Israeli drone strike hit the town of Beit Lif

BEIRUT: One person was killed on Wednesday in an Israeli strike on a village in southern Lebanon, the health ministry reported, the latest deadly attack despite a November ceasefire.
“The raid carried out by an enemy Israeli drone on the town of Beit Lif, in the Bint Jbeil district, resulted in one martyr and three people injured,” read a statement from the ministry.
The official National News Agency said the strike targeted a house’s courtyard in the town, adding that a missile hit the homeowner’s car.
Israel has regularly bombed its northern neighbor since the November ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with militant group Hezbollah including two months of full-blown war.
The agreement required Hezbollah fighters to withdraw north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle all military infrastructure to its south.
It also required Israel to withdraw all of its troops from Lebanon, but it has kept them in five positions it deems “strategic.”


US prepares to order departure of Baghdad embassy staff

Updated 29 min 3 sec ago
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US prepares to order departure of Baghdad embassy staff

  • State Department prepares to order departure of all nonessential personnel from US Embassy in Baghdad, officials tell AP

WASHINGTON: The State Department is preparing to order the departure of all nonessential personnel from the US Embassy in Baghdad due to the potential for regional unrest, two US officials said Wednesday.
The Baghdad embassy has already been on limited staffing, and the order will not affect a large number of personnel, but the department also is authorizing the departure of nonessential personnel and family members from Bahrain and Kuwait.
That gives them an option on whether to leave the country.
The Pentagon is standing by to support a potential evacuation of US personnel from US Embassy Baghdad, another US official said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to detail plans that have not been made public.


Former Lebanese economy minister arrested on corruption charges

Updated 11 June 2025
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Former Lebanese economy minister arrested on corruption charges

  • Former Economy Minister Amin Salam was detained after three-hour interrogation

BEIRUT: A former Lebanese Cabinet minister has been arrested and charged after an investigation into alleged financial crimes, judicial and security officials told The Associated Press.
Former Economy Minister Amin Salam was detained after a three-hour interrogation about illegal use of ministry funds and use of suspicious contracts. The three judicial officials and one security official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
Lebanon has been trying to reform its battered economy, which for decades has been rife with profiteering.
Salam has been charged with forgery, embezzlement, and misuse of public funds. Local media said it was related to alleged extortion of private insurance companies and using funds from a committee that supervises those companies for his own expenses.
Salam did not directly comment. On Monday, however, he shared a video on social media that denied the reports and asserted that his use of those funds was to increase the committee’s efficacy and transparency.
Salam was economy minister for over three years. He was appointed in 2021 at a time when Lebanon’s economy had plummeted and the country was plagued by severe power outages, fuel shortages and stark food inflation.


Israel urges Egypt to block Gaza-bound activist convoy

Updated 11 June 2025
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Israel urges Egypt to block Gaza-bound activist convoy

  • Pro-Palestinian activist convoy, bound for Gaza, arrived in the Libyan capital of Tripoli on Wednesday

JERUSALEM: Israel’s defense minister on Wednesday called on Egypt to block a hundreds-strong pro-Palestinian activist convoy from reaching Gaza, as the group arrived in the Libyan capital of Tripoli.
“I expect the Egyptian authorities to prevent the arrival of jihadist protesters at the Egypt-Israel border and not to allow them to carry out provocations or attempt to enter Gaza — an act that would endanger the safety of (Israeli) soldiers and will not be allowed,” Israel Katz said in a statement.