Sudan vows to boost ties with US despite ban

KHARTOUM: Sudan on Saturday vowed to enhance its bilateral relations with Washington despite US President Donald Trump banning the African country’s citizens from entering the US.

Citizens of Sudan, along with those from six other Muslim-majority countries, have been banned from entering the US, although a US federal judge on Friday ordered a temporary nationwide halt to Trump’s ban.

The ban on Sudanese travelers came just weeks after former US President Barack Obama



lifted a 20-year-old US trade embargo imposed on Sudan.

Despite the travel ban, Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour vowed that Khartoum will work toward enhancing bilateral ties with Washington.

“Sudan and the United States have many common goals, including fighting terrorism jointly in the region and internationally,” Ghandour said in a message to new US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, a Foreign Ministry statement said.