Khartoum, July 24 (SUNA) – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has issued a statement rejecting recent remarks by the U.S. Department of State concerning the Sudanese government’s response to allegations of chemical weapons use, in which Washington asserted that Sudan’s national investigative committee could not serve as a substitute for investigations conducted by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The ministry said the U.S. remarks were an attempt to justify the unilateral sanctions imposed on Sudan on the basis of the allegations.It stressed that the Sudanese government had never claimed that its national committee could replace or supersede the mechanisms established under the Chemical Weapons Convention or the OPCW. Rather, it said, the committee was established in accordance with those mechanisms and as part of the government’s national responsibility to verify allegations such as those raised by the United States. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed surprise at the United States’ disregard for—and apparent disavowal of—its more than year-long engagement with the Government of Sudan through a joint bilateral mechanism established to examine these allegations, during which it failed to produce any material or technical evidence substantiating its claims. The Ministry further stated that, through the bilateral mechanism, the Government of Sudan repeatedly proposed that U.S. experts be dispatched to Sudan to conduct on-site investigations and directly verify the allegations. However, the U.S. side declined to respond to those invitations, despite the fact that they represented the most professional and objective means of verifying the claims. “Instead, the United States imposed unilateral sanctions on Sudan based on allegations for which it presented no evidence. It also failed to invoke the procedures and mechanisms provided under the Chemical Weapons Convention to substantiate its claims, confirming that the sanctions are based on political considerations rather than legal or technical facts,” the statement said. The Sudanese government reaffirmed its full commitment to the Chemical Weapons Convention and its readiness to cooperate with the OPCW in accordance with the convention’s provisions. It also called on the international community to reject the politicization of international mechanisms and uphold the principles of justice, impartiality, and the rule of law.BH/BH