US embassy says Obama may visit Sudan during African tour

April 13, 2009 (KHARTOUM) – The US Embassy in Khartoum said that President Barack Obama may stop in Sudan during his Africa tour later this year.

The spokesperson of the US embassy John Walter speaking to the UN sponsored Miraya FM radio in Sudan said that they have not yet been informed about President Obama’s visit but that it might include Sudan.

The surprise announcement comes as the Obama’s special envoy to Sudan Scott Gration left the East African country on a positive note saying that he will convey “a new image of a great country”.

Sudanese officials said that Gration promised to come with a new proposal for resolving the Darfur crisis within the next few months that could also pave the way for normalizing bilateral relations.

The US special envoy’s main task was to convince Khartoum to reverse its decision to expel more than a dozen aid groups from Darfur accusing them of collaborating with the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Last month the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir in connection with war crimes committed in Darfur.

Sudanese officials have said that the decision is irreversible and that they will be able to cover the gap in humanitarian work. However UN officials said that this is not possible.

Speaking at the opening of the eighth session of the legislative assembly Bashir said he welcomed “positive signs” sent by Obama towards the Islamic world.

“We, our brothers and sisters, are seekers of peace and stability and we do not want our country to live under the shadows of swords and tension” he said.

“Our hands remain held out to those who call for peace and justice in accordance with the standards of fairness and dignity” Bashir added.

It is likely that any move by the Obama administration towards normalizing ties with Khartoum will bring disappointment and fierce criticisms from advocacy groups creating a public relations nightmare in Washington.

Gration during his recent meetings with Sudanese officials emphasized US friendship with the Sudan government and appeared to have backed down from the earlier position on the aid groups expulsion and instead proposing an alternative humanitarian plan.

Obama’s team is comprised of several key figures considered to be hawks in their views on dealings with Khartoum. The US Vice President Joe Biden has publicly called for military intervention in Darfur as did the US ambassador at the UN Sudan Rice.

The US Democratic Senator John Kerry, a former presidential candidate and the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will also visit Darfur this week as part of a congressional delegation.

The United States imposed economic sanctions on Sudan in 1997 and designated it a “state sponsor of terrorism” Khartoum has been pushing for full normalization of relations with Washington and an end to more than a decade of U.S. sanctions.

But despite helping broker the North-South peace agreement in Sudan, the Darfur conflict further worsened relations between the two countries.

Washington labeled the Darfur conflict ‘genocide’.

(ST)