Washington said on Wednesday, that its first Ambassador to Sudan in nearly 25 years has received his post. “Ambassador John Godfrey arrived in Khartoum today to be the first US ambassador to Sudan in nearly 25 years,” the embassy said in a statement.
It said the envoy will “strengthen relations between the American and Sudanese peoples and support their aspirations for freedom, peace, justice and democratic transition.”
The US closed its embassy in Khartoum in 1996 after labelling the Arab country a ‘state sponsor of terrorism’ for hosting al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden at the time.
The US reopened the embassy in 2002 with diplomatic representation below the level of ambassador.
In May 2020, Sudan appointed its first ambassador to Washington after 20 years of vacancy.
In November 2021, the US administration of President Joe Biden announced the appointment of Godfrey as ambassador to Khartoum.
Sudan has been embroiled in socio-political upheavals since last October when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s transitional government, a move decried by civil liberty organisations as a “military coup.”
