US Renews Sanctions Against Sudan
AboutSudan.com November 2, 2001

Despite the lifting of sanctions against Sudan by the United Nations and the European Union, and the normalizing of relations with nearly every country on Earth, US President George W. Bush renewed sanctions against Sudan for one year. Sanctions were started under the administration of Bill Clinton, on November 3, 1997. Citing "continuing concern about its record on terrorism and the prevalence of human rights violations," Bush declared, "These actions and policies are hostile to U.S. interests and pose a continuing unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States." Nonetheless, the Bush Administration did not oppose the United Nations lifting sanctions on September 28th (the abstained in a 14-0-1 vote). Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Othman Ismail called the decision "an unfortunate move". "We are trying to convince the U.S. administration of the fact that such moves as the one adopted recently do not serve the normalization of the bilateral relations and must be reconsidered," he continued.