Intel: US, Sudan sign terror claims agreement
The last major step in restoring US-Sudanese relations is legislation pending in Congress that would restore Sudan's sovereign immunity.
Sudanese and US officials signed a long-awaited claims agreement in Washington on Friday involving Sudan's settlement payment for the victims of al-Qaeda’s 1998 Kenya and Tanzania embassy bombings.
The deal formalizes an understanding reached earlier this year between the two governments in which the Trump administration has removed Sudan from the US state sponsors of terrorism list and Sudan’s sovereign immunity will be restored via an act of Congress in exchange for Sudan paying $335 million toward a court settlement for 1998 terror attacks.
Last week, the Trump administration also extracted an additional last-minute concession from Sudan’s leaders — that they take steps to recognize Israel amid a White House push dubbed the Abraham Accords.
The State Department’s top official for African Affairs, Tibor Nagy, was present for the finalization of the claims agreement Friday. The Sudanese side was led by Ambassador Mohammad Abdallah al-Tum.
