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November 28, 2013 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese government on Thursday dismissed media reports claiming that it decided to suspend cooperation with the United States special envoy for the Sudans Donald Booth.

United States Special Envoy to Sudan & South Sudan Donald Booth (L) meeting with the Sudanese Co-Chair of the Abyei Joint Oversight Committee al-Khair al-Fahim in Khartoum Saturday September 13, 2013 (SUNA)

According to these reports, Khartoum refused to grant Booth a visa for talks with Sudanese officials for talks about post-secession talks with Juba, security and humanitarian situation in Darfur and South Kordofan and peace prospects there.

It quoted unnamed officials as saying that Khartoum informed Washington that any role for the US should begin with seeking to normalize bilateral ties with Khartoum and addressing the issue of sanctions imposed and being on the list of states that sponsor terrorism.

They also added that "the issue of Darfur, which Booth asked to discuss is being handled by the United Nations and the African Union which is also mediating the crisis in South Kordofan and the Blue Nile through a team led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki and that other issues are considered domestic that should not be raised during the formal talks".

The officials also noted the US refusal to grant Bashir a visa last September to attend the UN General Assembly (UNGA) meetings saying it is unjustified.

But the spokesman for the Sudanese foreign ministry, Abu Bakr al-Sideeg told pro-government Ashorooq TV that issuing a visa for the US envoy is linked to scheduling meetings for him with officials in Khartoum.

The US special envoy is currently on a tour of the region which took him to Ethiopia, Qatar and Egypt.

Ronald Hawkins, a spokesman of the US embassy in Khartoum told al-Taghyeer newspaper that Booth will not stop in Sudan but offered no explanation as to why.

Sudanese foreign minister Ali Karti in the past said that Booth, who was appointed last August, should come only with a clear “road map” to resolve the issues between the two countries.

"If the new U.S. envoy has a clear roadmap for relations between Khartoum and Washington, including helping to resolve the remaining files, we welcome this role but if he goes to other issues we will certainly move away from him," Sudan foreign minister Ali Karti said at the time.

Sudan has been under the US blacklist of states sponsoring terrorism since 1993 on allegations of harboring Islamist militants despite reports of Sudan being a cooperative intelligence partner of Washington in the "war on terror" over the last decade.

The East African nation is also subject to comprehensive economic sanctions since 1997 over terrorism charges as well as human right abuses. Further sanctions, particularly on weapons, have been imposed since the 2003 outbreak of violence in the western Darfur region.

The US has promised to remove Sudan’s terrorism designation if it facilitated South Sudan’s referendum and recognize its results. South Sudan voted to secede from Sudan in January 2011 and declared independence in July that year.

However, the conflicts that erupted in South Kordofan and Blue Nile border states last year as well as lack of progress on post-referendum matters made Washington attach additional conditions for the de-listing process.

Despite relentless efforts by Khartoum to normalize ties, Washington has continued to renew the sanctions, although conditions have been eased in recent years in certain sectors, including agriculture.
(ST)