As he lobbied Arab countries to normalize ties with Israel, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also discussed dropping Sudan from a list of states that sponsor terrorism during his high-profile visit to Khartoum on Tuesday. 

Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok tweeted that he held “direct and transparent talks” with Pompeo over ending his country’s pariah status. The United States lifted most sanctions on Sudan in 2017, but kept the African nation on its terror blacklist with just three other countries — North Korea, Iran and Syria. 

Hamdok and his transitional government, which was formed after the toppling of longtime dictator Omar Bashir last year, have repeatedly called on Washington to take Sudan off the terror list. Khartoum’s continued designation makes it ineligible for much needed loans from international lenders and the stigma has kept foreign investment at bay. 

The country was added to the list in 1993 for harboring international terrorist groups and serving as a transit point for Iran-backed extremist groups. Then-al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden lived in Sudan for five years before he was expelled in 1996 and found safe haven in Afghanistan.