WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is preparing to welcome a senior Sudanese delegation to the United States for some rare highest-level diplomacy between the countries.

State Department spokeswoman Hilary Renner says Sudanese presidential adviser Nafie Ali Nafie and other officials have accepted an invitation to Washington for a "candid discussion on the conflicts and humanitarian crises within Sudan."

She says no date has yet been fixed.

 

But it has been years since the U.S. received such a high-level delegation from Sudan, which Washington has considered a state sponsor of terrorism since 1993.

The U.S. also blames the African country for atrocities in Darfur and along the border with South Sudan.

Renner said Tuesday the U.S. remains concerned about Sudan's "aerial bombardment of civilian areas," human trafficking and other rights issues.