A visiting envoy of the United States disclosed on Thursday that he was expecting a change in the U.S. policy toward Sudan, but it might need some time.

Scott Gration, the special envoy of the U.S. president to Sudan, told reporters following separate meetings with Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha and Presidential Adviser Gazi Salah al-Din that the U.S. administration is reassessing its policies on how to deal with Sudan, and he expected a change in the policies but that would need some time.

Answering a question about the possibility of lifting economic sanctions imposed on Sudan, the U.S. envoy said that Washington is studying the subject, but the process must be careful and profound, adding that the sanctions had negative impacts on various aspects particularly with regard to the humanitarian aspect and the health.

As to his talks with the Sudanese vice president, Gration said they discussed issues related to the Darfur crisis and the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between northern and southern Sudan and the bilateral relations between Washington and Khartoum.

"The talks are constructive, fruitful and profound," Gration noted.

Ghazi Salah al-Din, on his part, said that "there are some outstanding issues between the United States and Sudan which have not been dealt with, but will be discussed during further talks between us and the U.S. envoy."

The U.S. envoy arrived in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum earlier Thursday from the southern Sudan city of Juba after attending meetings of the tripartite mechanism involving the ruling Sudanese National Congress Party, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement and the U.S. envoy to Sudan.

The Juba meetings resulted in the signing of an agreement of 10 points between the two parties to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to implement the terms of the agreement that ended two decades of fighting between northern and southern Sudan.

Source: Xinhua