US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo begins an official visit to Sudan on Tuesday, the first of its kind in 16 years, following the talks he held in Israel on Monday, and his visit to Bahrain precedes his third leg of his tour of the region, which also includes the UAE.
The official Sudanese News Agency (SUNA) said that Pompeo would hold talks with the Chairman of the Sovereignty Council, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok, "regarding America's support for the democratic transition in Sudan and the issue of relations with Israel."
The agency added, "It is expected that the talks will discuss accelerating the removal of Sudan from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism, in addition to America's support for peace in Sudan."
This is the first visit by a US Secretary of State since 2004, and the visit comes at a time of remarkable development in relations between Khartoum and Washington after the formation of the city government in Sudan, which took power after the fall of the regime of President Omar al-Bashir last year.
After his talks in occupied Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the US Secretary of State said today that he hopes that "other Arab countries will follow the example of the UAE in normalizing relations with Israel, and join the UAE's move."