Sudan demands United Nations immediately lift arms embargo

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Sudan is demanding that the U.N. Security Council immediately lift an arms embargo and other sanctions imposed during violence in the western Darfur region in 2005. It says the embargo was imposed without setting any conditions or requiring the military government to meet U.N. benchmarks. Sudan’s U.N. Ambassador says in a letter to the council circulated Friday that the sanctions “are no longer relevant to the magnificent reality on the ground in Darfur today compared to the situation in 2005.” The letter contends that “Darfur has, for the most part, overcome the state of war, as well as previous security and political challenges.” In October 2021, Sudan was plunged into turmoil following a coup that derailed the country’s short-run democratic transition.