Godfrey’s appointment comes at a time when Sudan is experiencing challenging political problems; it also comes only a few weeks after US legislators approved legislation denouncing the acts of Sudan’s army leader, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, on October 25, 2021.
The legislation demands for sanctions to be imposed on people who do such actions, as well as a number of others who assist them.
Godfrey, who speaks excellent Arabic, was the Acting Counterterrorism Coordinator and Acting Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Combat ISIS in the US State Department’s Office of Counterterrorism before being appointed as his country’s ambassador to Sudan.
He was also Political Adviser at the US Embassy in Riyadh, Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary of State, Political and Economic Adviser at the US Embassy in Turkmenistan, and Consular Political Officer at the US Embassy in Damascus.
Sudanese-American relations have been strained since the coup that deposed President Omar al-Bashir in 1989, and tensions heightened in the early 1990s as the US accused the Bashir dictatorship of backing terrorism, abusing human rights, committing war crimes, and assassinating opponents.
tense relationship
Since Sudan’s independence in 1956, ties between the two nations have progressed through three stages. The first, which lasted from 1960 to 1989, saw political, military, and economic stability controlled by direct collaboration, with periods of relative stagnation following the 1967 conflict.
The first phase was characterized by warm relations dominated by the element of military and economic cooperation. In 1961, the late President Ibrahim Abboud was the first Sudanese president to visit the White House after independence, and he met President Kennedy.
During the six years that followed that visit, the relationship remained constant, with the United States topping the list of nations providing economic and military support to Sudan.
Sudan declared war on Israel and cut diplomatic relations with the US in 1967, and the situation remained in that vein until 1971, when the late President Jaafar Nimeiri sought to improve relations with Washington in the aftermath of a coup attempt to overthrow him, which was said to have been supported by the Soviet Union.
Relations improved further after the United States helped relocate refugees following the 1972 peace agreement with southern insurgents.
The US removed its ambassador from Khartoum in 1974 in protest at the Nimeiri government”s release of Palestinians from the “Black September” organisation involved in the killing of US Ambassador Cleo Noel and Deputy Chief of Mission Curtis J. Moore in Khartoum in early March 1973.
When President Nimeiri facilitated the release of ten American hostages held by Eritrean rebels in insurgent strongholds in northern Ethiopia in 1976, the relationship improved dramatically. The United States restarted economic support to Sudan the following year, and Sudan remained the greatest beneficiary of US development and military aid in Africa from then until Al-Bashir”s takeover in 1989.
Tension and inversion
The second stage of the relationship, which lasted from the ousted Omar al-coup Bashir’s in 1989 until the success of the December movement in April 2019, was the worst stage ever, with Sudan being placed on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism in 1997, after Khartoum became a centre for terrorist figures and groups on the Headed by Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda.
Tensions with the US rose in the early 1990s, when al-Bashir and his adherents announced anti-American slogans in the framework of a “jihadist” battle in the country’s south. As a result, the US removed many ambassadors and nationals from Khartoum and designated Sudan as a state supporter of terrorism.
Following the suspension of US Embassy activities in Khartoum in 1996, the US slapped broad economic, commercial, and financial sanctions on Sudan in October 1997
A year later, the US conducted cruise missile strikes on a pharmaceutical plant in the heart of Khartoum, accusing it of producing chemical weapons.
Because of the Bashir regime’s persistent crimes against civilians during the Darfur crisis, which began in 2003, US President George W. Bush placed further economic restrictions on Sudan in May 2007.
The sanctions targeted the assets of Sudanese nationals implicated in the Darfur conflict, as well as other firms owned or controlled by the Sudanese government.
new era
The third stage, which followed the ouster of Omar al-dictatorship Bashir’s in April 2019, saw a new stage in the relationship, as Washington declared its support for the country’s transformation.
Former Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok visited Washington in December 2019, which analysts believe marked a radical shift in the relationship between the two countries, as Hamdok was able to move many outstanding issues during the visit; that visit actually resulted in Sudan being removed from the list of terrorists.
The US Treasury stated in August 2020 that it has relaxed limitations on Americans’ financial interactions with Sudan; this step was critical in assisting Khartoum in overcoming the problems it was having as a result of these restrictions.
However, relations have deteriorated anew as a result of the army chief’s actions on October 25th, which ousted Hamdoks’ administration and broke the cooperation that had existed between civilians and the military since the collapse of the Bashir dictatorship
The US halted all financial help to Sudan and tied its resumption to the restoration of the civilian track. Earlier, Congress passed a law honouring the resigned Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok and his cabinet ministers, as well as condemning the acts of October 25th.
The resolution advocated for a restoration to constitutional government under the interim constitution issued in August 2019, as well as civilians taking over the chair of the Sovereignty Council.
The resolution emphasised the importance of security forces respecting the right to peaceful protest and holding those who used excessive force or committed other violations responsible in a transparent and credible procedure.
The resolution requested that the US Secretary of State identify military leaders and their associates in order to consider imposing targeted sanctions, as well as monitor, discourage, and dissuade any attempts by outside parties to support military leaders
According to the resolution, the State Department should work with the Administrator of the US Agency for International Development and other federal government agencies to halt all non-humanitarian bilateral assistance to Sudan until the transitional constitutional order is restored; and with the Treasury Department to ensure that the US votes in international financial institutions in favour of suspending procedures for granting or exempting loans.
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