Two senior US envoys to visit Sudan
Oct 10, 2005 (WASHINGTON) — Two senior US envoys will visit Sudan in the next two weeks, the State Department officials said on Monday.
The State Department did not give a precise date for the visit to Sudan.
Washington “strongly condemns” Saturday’s attack on African Union personnel in southern Darfur which left two Nigerian troops and two civilian drivers dead, deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said in a statement.
“Violence will not bolster the negotiating position of any party in the Abuja peace talks, will not earn any group enhanced contacts with the United States, and will not gain any faction a seat at the negotiating table.
Initial indications point to a Darfur rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Movement, as being responsible for an attack Saturday near Menawashi, South Darfur, and a second rebel group, a faction of the Justice and Equality Movement, for one near Tine in North Darfur on Sunday, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said.
Nigerian peacekeepers and local Sudanese drivers were killed in the first attacks, and an American monitor was kidnapped along with African Union personnel in Sunday’s attack. Ereli said.
“The United States reiterates its unequivocal support for the African Union with respect to its mission in Darfur and its mediation of the Abuja talks,” Ereli said, referring to peace negotiations in the Nigerian capital.
Ereli said their aim was to support implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in January to end two decades of war between Khartoum and southern rebels, and to press for a resolution of the Darfur crisis.
On the other hand the Nairobi based the Standard reported that US Senator Barack Obama could be coming to Kenya early next year.
Obama, an American of Kenyan descent, will also visit South Africa, Sudan (Darfur) and Rwanda.
The Senator of Illinois told Kenyan Councillor Vitalis Awandu Ondewe of his plans to tour Africa.
(Agencies)