"Should the referendum be carried out successfully and the results are recognized by the government, President Obama would indicate his intention to begin the process of removing them.”

The United States announced on Tuesday it may remove Sudan from its list of State sponsors of terrorism if the government in Khartoum recognizes the outcome of the South referendum on whether to secede from the north.

Sudanese on Sunday began seven days of balloting in the referendum on separation for southern Sudan, which was organized as part of a peace agreement in 2005 that ended two decades of civil war between the north and the south.

The lead US negotiator with Sudan Princeton Lyman said: "Should the referendum be carried out successfully and the results are recognized by the government, President Obama would indicate his intention to begin the process of removing them.”
"It is a process that takes some time, but by beginning the process in the wake of the referendum, the hope is if they meet all the conditions it can be done by July."

The assistant secretary of state for African affairs, Johnnie Carson, said another key condition for removing Khartoum from the US blacklist is that it does not "directly or indirectly" support "terrorist" groups.

The Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, has been praised for saying that he will celebrate the outcome of the poll whatever it may be and will work with an independent south Sudan if it chooses to secede.

Countries on the list of state sponsors of terrorism cannot receive US aid or buy US weapons, and bilateral trade is restricted. The list currently includes Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria.
The United States has banned virtually all trade with Sudan since 1997.

SECURITY CONCERNS
However, the vote, which is widely expected to lead to secession, has been marred by sporadic acts of violence between pro-Khartoum tribes and southern security forces and attacks on southerners heading from the north to vote.

Officials in south Sudan said 10 people were killed when their convoy was ambushed by Misseriya nomads in Southern Kordofan on Tuesday.
Lyman also acknowledged recent clashes in the Abyei region, but said "nothing in these unfortunate situations is impacting on the referendum."
"Nevertheless, this is a worrisome situation," he told reporters.

The Abyei region on its northern border also was supposed to have had a referendum at the same time but it has been indefinitely postponed over an impasse over who should be eligible to vote.
The region is settled by the pro-southern Dinkas, also the Misseriya say they should be eligible to vote.