Sudan Tells UN Security Council U.S. Lacks Evidence for Chemical Weapons Claims

Sudan’s Chargé d’Affaires at the United Nations, Minister Plenipotentiary Ammar Mohamed Mahmoud, told the Security Council on July 16 that the United States had not provided evidence to support its claims that the Sudanese Armed Forces used chemical weapons.

AllAfrica reported that Mahmoud addressed the Council in New York and noted the absence of supporting material sent either to Sudan’s embassy in Washington or to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague. Both Sudan and the United States serve on the OPCW Executive Council.

Mahmoud recalled that in 1998 the United States destroyed a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan on the grounds that it produced chemical weapons, a claim later proven false, after which the United States paid compensation to the factory owner. He also referenced a former U.S. Secretary of State who had stated with full confidence before the Council that a certain country possessed weapons of mass destruction, a claim later shown to be unfounded and used to justify an invasion.

Sudan urged the Security Council to handle such allegations with responsibility and objectivity, remaining guided by facts rather than unsubstantiated claims, AllAfrica reported.