Global Policy Forum

By Alistair Lyon

Khartoum, Sudan - Sudan's foreign minister said Thursday it was time to mend ties with the United States after years of mutual hostility that culminated in last year's U.S. missile attack on an alleged poison gas plant in Khartoum. Mustafa Osman Ismail said in an interview that Sudan's Islamist government had pursued a diplomatic offensive for the past two years to open up to the outside world, heal rifts with its neighbors and seek internal reconciliation to promote an end to civil war in the south and foster economic development. He said the United States had rejected Sudan's offer to let independent investigators examine claims that the Shifa medicine plant destroyed in August was making ingredients for chemical weapons and had links to Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden. ``Sudan has no chemical weapons,'' Ismail said, pledging that Khartoum would soon sign the Convention on Chemical Weapons, as such a move would not now be seen as linked to the Shifa strike. Sudan had previously refused to sign the convention in solidarity with a dozen other Arab League members that say they will not adopt it until Israel does the same. Ismail said Khartoum and Washington had exchanged letters and he had been in touch with U.S. officials since October. ``It's still too early to say if there is progress or not, but we are optimistic'' he said. ``We are not for confrontation with the United States, but for dialogue...We hope this dialogue will lead us to a new page with full transparency.'' Ismail said Sudan recognized that the United States was a superpower with its own interests in the region, but argued that it was not fully aware of events in his country. Solving bilateral problems could allow Washington to play a positive role in promoting peace in the south, economic development and regional cooperation. ``We are not at all against such a role for the United States,'' he declared. The United States lists Sudan among countries that sponsor international terrorism and abuse human rights. In 1997 Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited Kampala, Uganda to rally Sudanese rebels and African neighbors to join Washington's quest for a change of government in Khartoum. Regional conflicts pitting Eritrea against Ethiopia and Uganda against Congo have since eased external pressure on Khartoum, now mending its fences with Asmara and Addis Ababa. Last month Washington eased its sanctions policy against Sudan, Iran and Libya to allow sales of food and medicine. This month U.S. officials removed a freeze on $24 million deposited in a U.S. bank by Saleh Idris, the owner of the Shifa plant, without admitting that it had been bombed in error. Ismail said the United States had ``depended on false information'' about the factory and should pay compensation, but added that Khartoum understood U.S. concerns about terrorism. ``We feel we could cooperate and coordinate on this,'' he said. ``It's not our policy that the United States should be out of Sudan. If we reach agreement on these issues... the U.S. presence would be most welcome, whether through a diplomatic mission or even through security presence so they can have first-hand information about what is going on in Sudan.'' The United States has had no diplomats resident in Khartoum since 1996. Britain has had none stationed here since soon after the attack on the Shifa plant, which it publicly backed. Ismail said Britain, a major donor to humanitarian relief in Sudan, could have a strong influence in promoting peace in the south, but appeared biased against the government. He said it seemed that Sudanese opposition figures were always welcome to air their views in London, but government officials such as himself were barred from Britain.