Sudanese president, Colin Powell hold phone talks on peace process

By Sudanese radio

KHARTOUM, Nov. 27, 2003 — The president of the republic, Staff Lt-Gen Umar al-Bashir, has received a telephone call from the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, congratulating him on the occasion of Id al-Fitr.

Powell called for the continuation of tolerant coexistence in Sudan. The US secretary of state expressed the desire that the forthcoming [session in the current series of] peace talks would reach a fruitful conclusion in order to safeguard Sudan’s resources and place Sudan at the level of countries enjoying peace.

For his part, President Al-Bashir thanked Powell for the telephone call, stressing that the Sudanese-Sudanese talks will take the country to the land of peace. President Al-Bashir noted the reliability of the US role in the country’s peace process.

BBC Monitoring Middle East