US Congress delegation to visit Sudan soon: report

KHARTOUM, Oct 11, 2003 (Xinhua) — A US Congress delegation will visit Sudan within the next few days, local Omdurman Radio reported on Saturday.

The visit will be paid as part of an agreement reached during a recent visit by Sudanese Foreign Minister Mostafa Osman to Washington, the radio said.

Sudanese Charge d’affaires to the United States Khedr Haroun was quoted as confirming that the visit aims at updating the US delegation on the latest developments in the peace process in Sudan.

Contacts are under way between Khartoum and Washington to prepare for the visit, the report added.

Washington’s ties with Sudan have been frosty since a 1989 military coup brought Omar Hassan al-Bashir to power.

The ties hit a nadir in 1998 when the United States attacked a pharmaceuticals plant in Sudan it said was making ingredients for chemical weapons. Washington also lists Khartoum as a state sponsor of terrorism.

In 2001, Washington appointed a special envoy to Sudan. He helped bring the Bashir government and southern rebels to an outline peace deal last year.

Last month, the Sudanese government and the southern rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement resumed peace talks in Kenya reached a key deal on security arrangements aiming to end the prolonged civil war.

The two sides have been fighting in the south since 1983, leaving more than 2 million people dead, mainly through violence- induced famine and disease.

On Wednesday, Sudanese President Bashir applauded the United States for its efforts to end Sudan’s civil war and said he looked forward to normal ties with Washington.

“We commend the position of the United States in the Sudanese peace talks and its commitment to them,” Bashir said in a speech broadcast on state television.