 He proposed tangible steps to recover the rapidly deteriorating relationship between Washington and Khartoum.In March 1996, El Fatih Erwa, then minister of state for defense, was authorized by President Omar al-Bashir to make several secret trips to the United States to hold talks with U.S. officials, including Carney and senior C.I.A.Africa experts, about U.S. sanctions policy against Sudan and what measures might be taken by the Bashir regime to lift them.