US sends first ambassador to Sudan in 25 years

The US has sent its first ambassador to Sudan in 25 years, two years after it removed it from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism.

Ambassador John Godfrey arrived in the capital, Khartoum, on Wednesday and tweeted that he was delighted to be there and looked forward to supporting the Sudanese people’s transition to democracy:

Sudan was added to the list of countries that sponsor terrorism in 1993 after accusations that it supported al-Qaeda, whose founder Osama bin Laden lived in Sudan from 1992 to 1996.

In 1997, the US downgraded representation in Sudan from ambassador to the level of charge d’affaires and imposed economic sanctions.

The US announced plans to upgrade the representation in 2019 and the following year appointed an ambassador.