KHARTOUM, 28 October 2004 — Sudan threatened to close the US Embassy if the US administration failed to help the Sudanese mission in Washington to open a new bank account, an official newspaper reported yesterday.
The Sudanese Embassy’s account with Riggs Bank was closed after the lender was accused in July of helping former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet hide millions of dollars in assets from international prosecutors while he was under house arrest in Britain.
The bank was also accused of violating anti-money-laundering laws in its dealing with other embassies. Since then, Sudan — listed by the United States as a “state sponsor of terrorism — has been unable to find to a new bank.
The threat marked a new escalation in a dispute over banking problems the Sudanese mission has encountered and comes against the backdrop of mounting international pressure on Khartoum over the crisis in Darfur.
Quoted by the official Al-Anbaa daily, Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said the government “has renewed a threat to close down the American Embassy by the end of this month if the US administration fails to help the Sudanese diplomatic mission in Washington to open a banking account.”
Several other embassies have reportedly faced the same problem, as Riggs has traditionally managed the accounts of scores of diplomatic missions in Washington.
Banking arrangements to diplomatic missions are “a direct responsibility of the host country and the US has failed to solve this problem for three months,” Ismail said after a meeting with US Charge D’Affaires Gerard Gallucci Tuesday.
The closure decision was due to have taken effect on Tuesday but “the American Embassy asked for a few days,” the minister said.
The government will “postpone taking a decision until the end of this month and, if the problem is settled, it will be fine. If not, there is no way for the Sudanese Embassy to continue operating in Washington and similarly ... there is no way for the American Embassy to continue operating in Khartoum.”
The Sudanese Embassy in Washington had already closed for several days after failing to find a bank. The US authorities at the time had categorically denied they were trying to embarrass Sudan and said they were helping to solve the issue.
Washington has been spearheading criticism of Khartoum’s responsibility in a 20-month-old civil war that which has left tens of thousands of people dead and displaced up to 1.5 million in Darfur.
