Country Reports on Terrorism 2011 - Sudan
| Publisher | United States Department of State |
| Publication Date | 31 July 2012 |
| Cite as | United States Department of State, Country Reports on Terrorism 2011 - Sudan, 31 July 2012, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/501fbc96c.html [accessed 2 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Sudan was designated as a State Sponsor of Terrorism in 1993. In 2011, Sudan was a cooperative counterterrorism partner of the United States.
Elements of several designated terrorist groups including al-Qa'ida (AQ)-inspired terrorist groups remained in Sudan. The Government of Sudan has reportedly taken steps to limit the activities of these organizations and worked to disrupt foreign fighters' use of Sudan as a logistics base and transit point for violent extremists going to Iraq and Afghanistan. However, gaps remained in the Government of Sudan's knowledge of and ability to identify and capture these individuals. There was some evidence to suggest that former participants in the Iraqi insurgency have returned to Sudan and are in a position to use their expertise to conduct attacks within Sudan or to pass on their knowledge. There was also evidence that Sudanese extremists participated in terrorist activities in Somalia, activities that the Government of Sudan has also reportedly attempted to disrupt.
In addition, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Hamas maintained a presence in Sudan and Hamas has increased its presence there since late 2011. Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal visited Khartoum in November 2011, and Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh led a delegation of Hamas officials to Khartoum in late December during a regional tour. In addition, Haniyeh was President Bashir's guest of honor at the Sudanese independence celebrations on December 31. With the exception of Hamas, whose members the Government of Sudan does not consider to be terrorists, the government does not openly support the presence of terrorist elements within its borders.
Khartoum also has maintained a relationship with Iran. In 2011, President Bashir and the Sudanese Ambassador to Iran both met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to discuss bolstering political and economic ties between Khartoum and Tehran.
In June of 2010, four Sudanese men sentenced to death for the January 1, 2008 killing of U.S. diplomat John Granville and his Sudanese driver, escaped from Khartoum's maximum security Khobar Prison. That same month Sudanese authorities confirmed that they recaptured one of the four convicts and a second escapee was reportedly killed in Somalia in May 2011. The whereabouts of the other two convicts remained unknown.
Two cases stemmed from the murder of the two U.S. Embassy employees: in the first, the Sudanese Supreme Court was deliberating on an appeal filed by defense attorneys for the three surviving men convicted of the two murders requesting that their death sentences be commuted. The second case was the trial against five people allegedly involved in the escape of the four convicts from Khobar prison. The last court session on this case was held on November 22.
Sudan is a member of the Middle East North Africa Financial Action Task Force, a Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-style regional body. Through the FATF's International Cooperation Review Group process, Sudan has made significant progress in the establishment and development of its Anti-Money Laundering/Counterterrorist Finance (AML/CTF) regime. Toward the end of 2011, Sudan introduced an inspection program for banks. Sudan has not yet implemented adequate procedures for identifying and freezing terrorist assets, or ensured an effective supervisory program for AML/CTF compliance. Sudan's Financial Intelligence Unit is not fully functional.
