Sudanese official hails outcome of visit to Austria & Czech republic
December 23, 2008 (KHARTOUM) –A Sudanese official today expressed satisfaction on the bilateral relations of his country with Austria and the Czech republic at the conclusion of his visit to both countries.
Karti noted that importance of his visit stems from the fact that Austria will assume the rotating presidency of the European Union (EU) while the Czech Republic will become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC).
The Sudanese diplomat said that in the Czech Republic he met with the deputy parliament speaker and the deputy foreign minister as well with figures at the chamber of commerce.
He said that his visit to the Czech Republic was an opportunity to give them “the true picture of the situation in Sudan and the efforts undertaken by the government of national unity to strengthen peace and reaching a comprehensive settlement in Darfur”.
Furthermore Karti said he discussed reactivating prior agreements with the East European nation and noted that the Czech Republic was the first country to cancel Sudan’s debts.
In Austria the deputy foreign minister said the focus of his visit was on economic ties particularly in the banking sector and opening the doors for Austrian companies to invest in Sudan.
However the Sudanese official made no mention of lobbying either country on the issue of the indictment of president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court (ICC) which has a main focus of Khartoum envoys travelling abroad.
The ICC is expected to rule on charges against Al-Bashir that include 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur.
Khartoum has failed to convince the UN Security Council (UNSC) to use its power to stall the ICC move.
(ST)