WASHINGTON—Representative Eliot L. Engel, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, today made the following statement regarding the executive order extending the review period for lifting sanctions on Sudan by three months:

“This extension is the only path forward given the situation on the ground in Sudan. Without ceasefire monitors in place, we need more time to determine whether hostilities have stopped. And while humanitarian access has improved in parts of Jebel Marra in the Darfur region, it’s less clear whether unfettered humanitarian access exists in South Kordofan and Blue Nile. The United States isn’t ‘moving the goalposts,’ but rather ensuring that these two important benchmarks can finally be met before the three-month extension expires in October.”

Background:

The United States and the Government of Sudan have worked over the past year to improve relations focusing on five key areas: enhancing counterterrorism cooperation, addressing the threat of the Lord’s Resistance Army, ceasing hostilities in Darfur and the Two Areas (South Kordofan and Blue Nile), improving humanitarian access, and ending support for the armed opposition in South Sudan.  Since last July, Sudan has made progress in some of the areas, leading to the Obama Administration’s Executive Order 13671 in January 2017 partially lifting sanctions on Sudan, with an opportunity for the Trump administration to completely lift sanctions after a review period of 180 days. Yesterday’s executive order extends this review period.

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