WASHINGTON, May 18 (UPI) -- The United States Tuesday removed Sudan from a list of governments that do not cooperate with U.S. efforts to fight terrorism.
Sudan, however, remains on a second list of "state sponsors of terrorism" and that prohibits U.S. arms trade with the African country.
Soon after removing Sudan from the first list, Secretary of State Colin Powell complained Sudan was not allowing humanitarian assistance to reach strife-torn Darfur region.
"Sudan has taken a number of positive steps on cooperation against terrorism over the past few years," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told a briefing in Washington. "The U.S.-Sudanese bilateral counter terrorism information sharing has improved remarkably."
But Boucher said Sudan would remain on the state terrorism list because of the presence of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad organizations in the country and because of "some other concerns."
Four other countries - Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Libya - remain on the list.
