US says visit of Kiir to Washington coordinated with Sudan

By Wasil Ali

November 12, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The US embassy in Khartoum denied that the visit by the First Vice President Salva Kiir to Washington was arranged without the knowledge of the Sudanese government.

“This visit took place with the knowledge of the Sudanese Government” the embassy said in a statement.

Last weekend the Sudanese president Omar Hassan Al-Bashir told Al-Jazeera Arabic channel in Qatar said that the visit of his First Vice President Salva Kiir to the US was arranged through the SPLM’s mission in Washington and not the Sudanese embassy.

“Our brother Salva’s visit to the United States was arranged through the movement’s office in Washington, and not through the Sudanese embassy in Washington, where the ambassador is a member of the SPLM” Al-Bashir said.

Sudan’s First Vice-President and President of the Government of South Sudan Salva Kiir Mayardit met last week with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington to discuss the progress of the CPA.

“The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was notified officially and in writing on October 8, 2007 (in diplomatic note #650) by the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum of the invitation by the U.S. Secretary of State Dr. Condoleeza Rice. The visit took place one month later” the statement said.

The war of words between the NCP and SPLM has escalated since the withdrawal of the latter’s ministers from the government of national unity.

Kiir told the BBC Arabic service from Washington that he “lost confidence in the National Congress Party (NCP) and president Al-Bashir”.

The latest move by the SPLM raised concern that the Comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) that ended two decades of civil war between the Arab and Muslim-dominated north and the mainly Christian and animist black southerners may unravel.

(ST)