Top US Official Urges Sudan To Form Legislative Body

The State Department's top official for political affairs met Tuesday with Sudanese Foreign Minister Asma Abdalla, urging Khartoum to take a major step in the country's democratic transition.

David Hale "highlighted the importance of completing the formation of the transitional government by establishing the Transitional Legislative Council," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.

Hale and Abdalla further discussed "the need to continue implementing domestic economic reforms," and ongoing peace talks with armed groups, Ortagus added.

The U.S. and Sudan announced last month that they would be exchanging ambassadors for the first time in 23 years.

The diplomatic milestone follows the ouster of former longtime Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir, who was removed from power by Sudan's military in April following months of popular protests against his rule.

Al-Bashir had led Sudan for three decades before he was ousted. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, an economist, was appointed to lead a transitional government that replaced the military junta as part of an accord reached last August.

Bashir was found guilty of corruption and illicit possession of foreign currency in mid-December and was sent to a social welfare facility to serve his two-year sentence.

Regionally, Hale and Abdalla discussed Libya, and Hale asked the Sudanese foreign minister for Sudan's aid in implementing UN Security Council resolutions seeking an end to the conflict in the war-torn neighboring country, according to the State Department. -