U.S. evangelist Franklin Graham praises Sudan’s efforts toward peace
KHARTOUM, Sudan, Dec 08, 2003 (AP) — U.S. evangelist Franklin Graham, long an outspoken critic of Sudan’s Islamic government, met Monday with President Omar el-Bashir and praised his government’s “courageous steps” toward peace, according to Sudan’s official news agency.
Graham, who runs a hospital in the rebel stronghold of southern Sudan, expressed his appreciation for the efforts exerted by the government to put an end to the civil war, according to the agency.
Following the meeting, el-Bashir said his government has made peace a “priority,” saying the 20-year old war has had a negative impact on the northern, predominantly Muslim part of the country as well as the Christian and animist south.
“We hope the United States will be able to correct the negative image of Sudan being reflected because of the war,” el-Bashir said.
The southern rebels — Sudan’s People Liberation Army — and the government are engaged in a final phase of negotiations in Kenya, and are hard pressed by the United States to finalize a peace deal by the end of this month.
Although negotiators say issues of power and resource sharing are still difficult to untangle, the Sudanese government has said it is ready to sign a peace deal in Washington by the end of the year.
More than 2 million people have died in the conflict, which erupted in 1983 — most through war-induced famine.
Graham — who has accused the Sudanese government of targeting the country’s Christians — said the government has recently taken “courageous steps” to bring about peace, SUNA quoted him as saying.
Graham, the son and successor of the U.S. Rev. Billy Graham, was invited by the Sudanese government last year, but he declined the invitation because the area near his hospital in southern Sudan had been bombed.
Repeated bombings by government forces near the Samaritan’s Purse Hospital have helped shape Graham’s view of Islam, which he infamously termed “a very evil and wicked religion” in a television interview shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Despite his negative comments, local newspapers did not attack him in reports about his visit.