In this file handout picture provided by Sudan's Prime Ministers office on August 25, 2020, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (left) greets Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok (right) in Khartoum. The United States on December 14, 2020 formally removed Sudan's state sponsor of terrorism designation, 27 years after putting the country on its blacklist, the US embassy in Khartoum said.  (HANDOUT / OFFICE OF sUDAN'S PRIME MINISTER / AFP)

The US rescinded Sudan’s almost three-decade designation as a state sponsor of terror, paving the way for the North African country to rejoin the global community and boost its ravaged economy.

“The congressional notification period of 45 days has lapsed and the secretary of state has signed a notification stating rescission of Sudan’s State Sponsor of Terrorism designation is effective as of today,” the US Embassy in Khartoum said Monday on its Facebook page.

The move was expected after President Donald Trump announced in October that Sudan had agreed to make a long-sought payment to US terror victims and their families

The move was expected after President Donald Trump announced in October that Sudan had agreed to make a long-sought payment to US terror victims and their families. Discussions also brought in Sudan’s fledgling relations with Israel, a country Khartoum had never previously recognized and with which it agreed a peace deal just days later.

ALSO READ: Israel sent delegation to Sudan to firm up ties, Israeli radio says

It’s another step toward overturning the legacy of dictator Omar al-Bashir, who made the country an international pariah for much of his 30-year rule and was ousted by the army amid mass protests in April 2019. The US named Sudan a terror sponsor in 1993, citing its links with international Islamist-militant organizations, and four years later enacted sweeping sanctions that lasted until 2017.

Sudan’s transitional government, a civilian-military coalition ruling until democratic elections, had mounted a concerted campaign for the listing to be dropped. It said the rescission was crucial to rebuilding an economy battered by mismanagement, corruption and the loss of most of its oil reserves on South Sudan’s secession in 2011.

READ MORE: Putin approves new Russian naval facility in Sudan

The US’s lifting of most sanctions didn’t spur an improvement in Sudan’s economic plight, which sparked the protests that eventually unseated Bashir, with the terror listing leaving international banks and other companies still wary of entry.

Chairman of Sudan's Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan on Monday said the removal of Sudan from the US list of states sponsoring terrorism contributes to supporting democratic transition.

"This decision will contribute to supporting the democratic transition and enhance the opportunities for the success of the transitional period as well as the prosperity of the Sudanese people," Al-Burhan said on his Twitter account.

With inputs from Xinhua