This Aug 25, 2020 file photo shows US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) posing for a picture with Sudan's Sovereign Council chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in Khartoum. Pompeo is on an official visit to Sudan to urge more Arab countries to normalize ties with Israel, following the US-brokered Israel-UAE agreement. He is the first American top diplomat to visit Sudan since Condoleezza Rice went in 2005. (HANDOUT / SUDAN'S FOREIGN MEDIA COUNCIL / AFP)

KHARTOUM - Sudanese officials will discuss the removal of their country from a US list of state sponsors of terror with US officials during a visit to the United Arab Emirates this week, the ruling council said on Sunday.

Sudan’s transitional government, in charge since the toppling of Omar al-Bashir last year, has been pushing to get off the US list, which hinders its ability to access foreign loans to tackle an economic crisis

Sudan’s transitional government, in charge since the toppling of Omar al-Bashir last year, has been pushing to get off the US list, which hinders its ability to access foreign loans to tackle an economic crisis.

In August, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo raised the issue of Sudan establishing ties with Israel during a visit. Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok told him he had no mandate to do so.

The UAE, a key partner of the US, and Bahrain have normalized ties with Israel in deals brokered by Washington, the first Arab states in a quarter of a century to break a longstanding taboo. US President Donald Trump has said he expects other Arab countries to follow suit.

READ MORE: Israel signs normalization agreements with UAE, Bahrain

Ties with Israel are a sensitive issue in Sudan, which was among the hardline Muslim foes of Israel under Bashir.

The ruling council said its head, General Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan, and Justice Minister Nasredeen Abdelbari were in the delegation set to fly on Sunday to Abu Dhabi, where they would first meet UAE officials to discuss regional issues.

Afterwards Abdelbari will meet US officials present in the UAE to discuss the “removal of (the) name of Sudan from the list of states sponsoring terrorism, support of the transitional period and writing off American debts on Sudan”.

It gave no details.

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The authorities are under pressure to fix the economic crisis, which has worsened since Bashir’s ouster. Inflation hit almost 170 percent last month, the currency has been in freefall and the government has declared an economic state of emergency.

In February, Burhan met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Uganda, a meeting condemned by Sudanese protesters. He afterwards cast doubt on any rapid normalisation of relations, though Israeli aircraft soon began overflying Sudan.