US talks with Sudan on normalizing ties may be postponed: Official

May 18, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — The second round of negotiations between the US and Sudan that were scheduled for May 20th may be a postponed, a foreign ministry official said today.

A delegation led by the US special envoy to Sudan Richard Williamson was due to arrive in Khartoum on May 20th for talks with Sudanese officials over normalization of ties between the two countries.

The head of US affairs in the Sudanese foreign ministry Abdel-Basit Al-Sanoosi told the daily Al-Rayaam that it is “likely” that the talks would be postponed.

The Sudanese official said that contacts are underway to decide on a new date.

Al-Sanoosi hinted that the rebel assault on the Sudanese capital and the ongoing Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) convention may “impact the commencement of talks [Us-Sudanese]”.

Williamson met with in Rome last April with a Sudanese delegation headed by Sudan presidential adviser Nafi Ali Nafi and included Sudan’s spy chief Salah Gosh as well as foreign minister Deng Alor.

News of the meeting drew widespread in the US from lawmakers and Darfur advocates who think that the Sudanese government has not lived up to its previous commitments with regards to Darfur and partially to the North-South agreement.

Democratic White House contender Barack Obama issued a statement saying he was “deeply concerned” over reports that the Bush administration is negotiating with Sudan over normalizing ties.

The New York Times (NYT) obtained a series of documents exchanged between Washington and Khartoum on a series of steps to normalize relations between the two countries. The documents were leaked by an unidentified US official described as being “critical of the administration’s position”.

The report said that the Bush administration could remove Sudan from an American list of state supporters of terrorism and normalize relations if the Sudanese government agreed, among other steps, to allow Thai and Nepalese peacekeepers as part of the peacekeeping force.

However Williamson told US lawmakers that the report is “not accurate” and that if it was “he would not defend it and would not engage in it”. He further said that it was the Sudanese government which approached Washington on the requirements for normalizing ties.

“Concrete, verifiable, significant progress must be achieved on the ground before we can contemplate improved relations” Williamson said.

Williamson told a group of Darfur activists in a conference call sponsored by Enough Project from Washington that he does not foresee improvement of ties with Sudan “during his tenure”.

“There has to be changes on the ground before any improvement in relations” the US envoy said.

He further said that tougher sanctions remain an option on the table if the US president Bush deems them necessary.

But following the Rome negotiations the Sudanese government decided to release containers belonging to the US embassy that was being held by custom authorities in Port Sudan for over a year.

The containers contained equipments that were to be used for new embassy complex in south Khartoum that was under construction for over two years.

The daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat quoting unidentified Sudanese official said that the US administration agreed to “re-open a bank account for the Sudanese embassy in Washington” in return.

Earlier this month Washington also released a number of Sudanese inmates held at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay.

(ST)