By AFP

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The United States placed sanctions Thursday on former Sudan foreign minister Ali Karti, accusing him of obstructing efforts to bring about a ceasefire in the country's civil war.

Karti, who was foreign minister from 2010 to 2015 in the government of now-deposed dictator Omar al-Bashir, is currently secretary general of the Sudanese Islamic Movement.

Former foreign affairs minister Ali Ahmed Karti speaks during a press conference in Khartoum, Sudan on December 28, 2014. PHOTO | AFP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the movement as "a hardline Islamist group that actively opposes Sudan's democratic transition."

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He said in a statement that after Bashir's fall in 2019, Karti "led efforts to undermine" the civilian transition government of the time.

More recently, Karti has stood in the way of efforts to bring a ceasefire between the Sudanese Armed Forces (Saf) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who have been battling each other for control of the country since April.

"Today's action holds accountable those who have undercut efforts to find a peaceful, democratic solution in Sudan," said Brian Nelson, under-secretary of the US Treasury Department, which administers sanctions.

"We will continue to target actors perpetuating this conflict for personal gain," he added.

The Treasury also placed sanctions on Sudan-based GSK Advance Company Ltd, a company allegedly used by the Rapid Support Forces to procure supplies, including Russian-made drones.

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Sanctions aim at locking those named out of legitimate trade and finance networks and allow the seizure of their assets under US jurisdiction.

The State Department meanwhile said it added a number of Sudanese Islamists and members of Bashir's regime to its visa ban list.

It did not provide the names.