Ambassador John Godfrey (Right) U.S. first ambassador to Sudan in 25 years, arrived in Khartoum  Aug. 24, 2022 (Credit: usembassy.gov)

By Gary  Raynaldo      DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

Ambassador John Godfrey, the first U.S. Ambassador to Sudan in nearly 25 years,  arrived in Khartoum this week.  The US Senate last month confirmed Godfrey, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, as President Biden’s Ambassador to Sudan. 

“Ambassador Godfrey will work to strengthen relations between the American and Sudanese people and to support their aspirations to freedom, peace, justice, and a transition to democracy”

-U.S. embassy Kharthoum statement 

Ambassador Godfrey said via Twitter that he met on Thursday with acting Sudan’s acting Foreign Minister Ali al-Sadiq to “discuss deepening ties between the U.S. and Sudanese peoples and the importance of establishing a new civilian-led government, a key to facilitating greater government-to-government cooperation and greater U.S. and international”.   Ambassador Godfrey will step into a troubled Sudan ruled by the military where  thousands of anti-coup protesters have taken to the streets of the Sudanese capital Khartoum demanding an end to the non-civilian rule. More than 100 people have been killed in protest-related violence amid the military’s crack down  on the anti-coup movement over the past nine months.  

During Godfrey’s confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the diplomat said he is no stranger to Sudan, having worked in the Counterterrorism Bureau involved in rescinding Sudan’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism. 

“Sudan is at a moment of great peril: the military takeover on October 25 and lack of an agreement establishing the framework for a civilian-led transition worsened the country’s political, economic, and security crises. The devastating human toll of recent violence in Darfur is just one example of the dangers of the current political paralysis. Realizing the promise of Sudan’s democratic revolution is important for the Sudanese people, who have consistently and courageously demanded more human rights respecting, accountable and effective governance.  In a potent example for neighboring countries, the Sudanese people have made clear through four years of sustained activism that they are unwilling to have their demands for civilian rule and democracy ignored or coopted.”

-John T. Godfrey,    Nominee for U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Sudan Senate Foreign Relations Committee  statement  May 24, 2022

Godfrey, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor,  was most recently  the Acting Counterterrorism Coordinator and the Acting Special Envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in the Counterterrorism Bureau of the U.S. Department of State. Prior to that he was the Principal Deputy Coordinator of the Counterterrorism Bureau and before that the Bureau’s Deputy Coordinator for Regional and Multilateral Affairs.  Ambassador Godfrey previously served as the Acting Deputy Chief of Mission and the Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and as the Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary of State.  Godfrey earned his B.A. degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and his M.A. degree from the University of Michigan.  He speaks Arabic and has studied Russian and Italian.