U.S.: Sudan cooperates on counterterrorism issues, so that’s good. What it’s doing in Darfur is something different.

Posted on May 4th, 2007 by Marian Houk

The U.S. State Department spokesman today explained the nuances in the reasoning of the U.S. position on counterterrorism cooperation vs. genocide:

“MR. CASEY: … In terms of the nature of listing issues, well, again, as you well know, being designated a state sponsor of terror is something that takes a very thorough and lengthy legal review. And getting off that list, as we saw in the case with Libya and as we’ve talked about in the context of the commitment to beginlooking at a review process for North Korea, is also something that takes a great deal of time. I think our report reflects our understanding of the status of current cooperation between the Sudanese Government and counterterrorism officials more broadly here in the United States. But saying that in the calendar year that that report covers — that Sudan maintain positive cooperation on counterterrorism issues, certainly doesn’t mean that there are no remaining questions about their record, or that any kind of legal finding has been determined, that they are no longer — or that they should be removed from that list … As part of discussions as part of the North South agreement, I know they certainly raised their concerns about remaining on the list to us. As I recall, there is certainly no formal commitment to start or begin a review of that. But it was an issue that was discussed. And as I recall, there was something along the lines of saying, as things progressed, we might be in a position to begin such a review after the agreement was signed and implemented.

QUESTION: Even as the genocide was persistent in Darfur?

MR. CASEY: Well, again, George, I think this was an issue that was discussed in the lengthy negotiations over many years, related to the North South agreement … Countries can in fact actually do positive things in one area, even while they’re doing extremely negative things in another. But the point of the matter is there has never been a decision taken to begin a review of Sudan’s status as a state sponsor of terror and I’m not aware of any plans to begin such a review now”.

DPB # 80 - released on May 4, 2007

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