John Godfrey 1st U.S. ambassador to Sudan in 25 years assumes office

The U.S. Embassy in Khartoum has announced the arrival of John Godfrey to take up the role of the first U.S. Ambassador to Sudan in almost 25 years.

The embassy said in a statement that in 1993, the U.S. listed Sudan as a country sponsoring terrorism, accusing Khartoum of supporting al-Qaeda, which Founder, Osama bin Laden, lived in Sudan from 1992 to 1996.

In 1997, the U.S. downgraded its diplomatic representation in Sudan from ambassador to the level of charge d’affaires and imposed unilateral economic sanctions on Khartoum for alleged sponsorship of terrorism.

In December 2019, Washington announced its intention to raise its diplomatic representation with Khartoum to the ambassador level.

In May 2020, Sudan appointed Nureldin Satti as its first Ambassador to the U.S. in 23 years.

The U.S. removed Sudan from its list of countries sponsoring terrorism in December 2020.