A senior American official has said there is no evidence to support keeping Sudan on a list of countries that sponsor terrorism.Sudan envoy Scott Gration also said the US would have to "unwind" sanctions imposed as a result of that status.
A Sudanese official welcomed what he called "positive signals" from the US.
The comments came amid a debate in the US about policy over Darfur, where the UN says some 300,000 people have died in the six years of conflict.
The US is also trying to assist Sudan in implementing a 2005 peace agreement that ended two decades of civil war between the north and south of the country.
Talking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr Gration said the situation in Darfur had improved and that sanctions were now hindering reconstruction efforts for South Sudan, citing bans on road building and computer equipment.
The BBC's James Copnall in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, says there have been signs that the previously dire relationship between the two countries has been improving recently.
'Political decision'
Mr Gration said keeping Sudan on a terrorism blacklist was "a political decision," and there was no intelligence to support including Sudan as a sponsor of terrorism.
"There's significant difference between what happened in 2004 and 2003, which we characterized as a genocide, and what is happening today," he said. More in bbcnews
A Sudanese official welcomed what he called "positive signals" from the US.
The comments came amid a debate in the US about policy over Darfur, where the UN says some 300,000 people have died in the six years of conflict.
The US is also trying to assist Sudan in implementing a 2005 peace agreement that ended two decades of civil war between the north and south of the country.
Talking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr Gration said the situation in Darfur had improved and that sanctions were now hindering reconstruction efforts for South Sudan, citing bans on road building and computer equipment.
The BBC's James Copnall in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, says there have been signs that the previously dire relationship between the two countries has been improving recently.
'Political decision'
Mr Gration said keeping Sudan on a terrorism blacklist was "a political decision," and there was no intelligence to support including Sudan as a sponsor of terrorism.
"There's significant difference between what happened in 2004 and 2003, which we characterized as a genocide, and what is happening today," he said. More in bbcnews
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