Sudan Demands End To US Sanctions

Sudan Demands End To US Sanctions

Sudan has asked the United States to lift sanctions, a day after provisional results showed that south Sudan voted almost unanimously to secede in a referendum.

The United States had declared the peaceful conduct of South Sudan's January independence referendum a top priority and offered the Khartoum government a 'roadmap' to full ties if it allowed the vote to proceed and made progress on Darfur .

"We have delivered what we promised. We now want all sanctions to be lifted," Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Karti told newsmen on the sidelines of an African Union summit in Ethiopia .

Karti hoped the peaceful conduct of the vote would provide an opening for economic opportunities for his country, which has long faced embargoes.

"We want more investment in our country. We want to strengthen our trade, and enhance cooperation on all aspects, Darfur should not be attached on this, we are providing our full cooperation with them to solve the issue," he said.

The United States has so far taken some small initial steps to lift export controls on agricultural machinery to help Sudan 's struggling food sector, but has stressed that further progress is contingent on Khartoum 's continued cooperation.

REUTERS/Margaret/Yinka