Visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged the Sudanese government on Thursday to take more decisive actions to end violence in Darfur.

Rice said during a meeting with Sudanese President Omar al- Bashir that it was important for the Sudanese government "to do its best to end the violence in Sudan's western region of Darfur," according to a Sudanese official source.

After the talks with Bashir, Rice left for the conflict-torn Darfur.

Rebels took up arms against the Sudanese government in February 2003, accusing Khartoum of neglect. Violence on the ground has recently abated.

Rice arrived in Khartoum early on Thursday on a one-day visit to Sudan. It was her first trip to the African country since she took office as the US secretary of state.

The new Sudanese government of national unity, which was sworn in on July 9, hoped that Rice's visit would make a step forward toward normalizing bilateral relations.

Acting Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Othman Ismail announced last week after a visit to Washington that Khartoum and the US would raise the level of their diplomatic representations in a few months.

The United States recalled its ambassador to Sudan Tim Carney in 1997 after Washington imposed comprehensive sanctions on the country, accusing it of supporting terrorism.

Currently, the top US representative in Sudan is charge d'affaires.

Ties between the two countries had remained frosty since then.

Following a long period of tension, the US-Sudanese relations have improved recently, with a joint committee being established to discuss ways of normalizing the relations.

Source: Xinhua