Pompeo in Sudan, Khartoum Asks to Be Removed from US Black List

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok said that he held "direct and transparent" talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Khartoum this morning that included removing Sudan from an American list of countries sponsoring terrorism.

Hamdok added that the talks with Pompeo included the US government's support for the Sudanese government, led by civilians. He said: "I am looking forward to concrete positive steps that support the December revolution" in Sudan.

Pompeo arrived in Sudan today on the first visit of a US Secretary of State in 15 years as part of a regional tour aimed at persuading other countries to normalize their relations with Israel in the wake of the UAE’s move, and this trip is the first direct trip from Israel to Sudan.

Last week, Sudanese Foreign Minister-designate Omar Qamar al-Din strongly denied discussion of relations with Israel.

The statement of the 'Freedom and Change' Declaration, the coalition of civil society parties and groups that led the protest movement in Sudan, said yesterday that the issue of normalization with Israel "is not among the issues of the transitional  government, stressing "the right of the Palestinian people to their lands.

Later, a spokesman for the Sudanese government said in a statement that the prime minister informed the US Secretary of State that his transitional government does not have a mandate to take a decision on normalizing relations with Israel.