US to have ambassador to Sudan after 23 years

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok (R) meets with House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Eliot Engel in Washington, DC, on 4 December 2019. (AFP)

The United States said Wednesday it would name an ambassador to Sudan for the first time in 23 years, during a visit to Washington by the country’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.

The two nations will proceed with an exchange of ambassadors, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced.

“This decision is a meaningful step forward in strengthening the US-Sudan bilateral relationship, particularly as the civilian-led transitional government works to implement … vast reforms,” Pompeo said in a statement.

Hamdok met with one of Pompeo’s top deputies, David Hale.