The Sudanese government’s decision to allow three expelled aid agencies to return to Darfur is a sign that the Obama administration’s more emollient approach to the country is starting to pay dividends, say diplomats and aid workers.

The Khartoum regime kicked out 13 international aid agencies in March in response to the International Criminal Court’s indictment of Omar al-Bashir for, the president, on war crimes and crimes against humanity in war-torn Darfur.