US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is scheduled to visit Sudan on Tuesday to hold talks with the head of the Transitional Sovereign Council Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, Sudan's SUNA news agency reported. The talks will focus on US support of the democratic transition in Sudan, Israel-Sudan relations, and lifting Sudan's name off the list of countries harbouring terrorism in the nearest time possible. The visit is the first by a US secretary of state to Sudan since 2004. The visit comes at a time relations between Khartoum and Washington are witnessing remarkable developments following the formation of the civilian-led government in Sudan. Pompeo arrived in Israel on Monday, kicking off a five-day visit to the Middle East focused on Israel's normalising of ties with the UAE and pushing other Arab states to follow suit. In addition to Israel and Sudan, the US State Department said Pompeo will travel to Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Officials said stops in Oman and Qatar are also possible. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is also scheduled to arrive in Khartoum on Tuesday for a one-day visit, SUNA reported. Ethiopia's ambassador in Khartoum Yibeltal Aemero said on Monday Ahmed will discuss bilateral relations with Sudanese officials and means to boost cooperation between the two sides. Aemero said he discussed boosting economic, political and social ties during a meeting with the head of the Transitional Sovereign Council, Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan, while presenting his credentials letter. Al-Burhan welcomed Abiy's visit which will push forward relations between the two countries.
