Khartoum- Ahmed Younes and Mohammed Amin Yassine

US officials have informed Sudan that removing it from the terror list is complicated because it is tied to Congress and could take nine months to a year, announced Finance Minister Ibrahim el-Badawi.

Speaking at a press conference in Khartoum, Badawi said Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who is participating at the UN General Assembly meetings in New York, will ask the World Bank for $2 billion in funding.

The Minister noted that Sudan has so far been unable to tap the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank for support because the US still lists the country as a state sponsor of terrorism.

He noted that the ministry is in the process of forming a committee to recover the looted funds outside the country, noting that Khartoum received pledges from the United Nations and some organizations to help in this issue.

Meanwhile, the Sovereignty Council of Sudan discussed the security situation in the country and solutions to address it, according to the Council’s spokesman Mohamed Alfaki Suleiman.

Suleiman told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Council decided to hold its regular meeting next Thursday in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, to discuss current situations and ensure citizens’ safety.

On Sunday, dozens of students took it to the streets of Nyala to protest the bread crisis which led to clashes with the government forces causing the injury of several citizens.

The spokesman said that the meeting of the Sovereignty Council also addressed the issue of the various departments that were affiliated with the Republican Palace during the previous regime.

The Council agreed to keep three departments under the Sovereignty Council and transfer the rest to the government as stipulated in the constitutional document.