Up in Sudan, don't get too excited about all the talk of hunting opening in the southern part of the country, at least not if you are an American citizen. Seems the US State Department is not about to recommend that blanket sanctions against the country, or any part of it, be lifted. Those sanctions, which are actually enforced by the US Treasury Department, make it illegal for US citizens to have any business dealings with Sudanese nationals. You can read a copy of the sanctions for yourself at: http://www.treas.gov /offices/enforcement/ofac/sanctions/t11sudan.pdf.
Excitement about southern Sudan has been building of late because recent surveys there have turned up huntable populations of game. Word that Angelo Dacey of Sudan Wildlife Safaris (Booking agent: Chuck Bazzy, cbazzy7188@aol.com) was joining the hunt for game only added fuel to the fire. Problem is, apparently, no one had spoken directly to the US State Department about the possibility of lifting sanctions. Absent that, rumors had grown that it was in our national interest to do business with the southern - e.g., African - part of the country, which has been at war until recently with the Arab north. It is the behavior of the Arab north, after all, that led to the sanctions, not the behavior of the African south.
It's entirely possible that some of those involved in trying to open Sudan have back-channel contacts I don't, and it is possible those contacts are encouraging them to go forward. All I can tell you is, the official contacts we reached pooh-poohed the idea of any lifting of sanctions against Sudan. As for the possible special licensing of activities there such as hunting, we were told that consideration would be given only to activities of a humanitarian nature.
The attitude of the State Department official I spoke with (he spoke on a condition of anonymity)........(continued)
