Sudan parliament calls for ‘direct dialogue’ with US Congress

March 6, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The deputy speaker of the Sudanese national assembly Hagu Gism al-Sid said the parliament will seek to establish “direct dialogue” with the United States Congress in an attempt to correct its distorted image of Sudan.

In statements carried by state media, al-Sid said that his country will make a request in this regard to the US chargé d’affaires in Khartoum in order to determine the status of relations between the two legislative bodies.

The Sudanese lawmaker went on to say that they want to get acquainted with the “hostile” stances of the US Congress and try to reform their perceptions of the country.

Al-Sid noted that US Congressmen who visit Sudan meet with officials in all agencies of the government except the Sudanese parliament.

The remarks come a day after the Sudanese minister of international cooperation Ishraqa Said Mahmud threatened that her government would expel the US embassy staff if Washington insists on propagating claims of famine in the country’s war-hit regions of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

She also accused the US of trying to sabotage the Sudanese economic conference that is to be held in Turkey this month by trying to include the issue of the humanitarian situation the two border states as part of the agenda.

The Sudanese deputy speaker echoed the position claiming that the US is also pressing other countries not to participate in the conference.

Last week, US Deputy Chief of Mission Dennis Hankins was quoted as saying that Washington has not made a decision on its level of attendance at the summit which will discuss relief of Sudan’s external debts and providing economic assistance to help Khartoum cope with the loss of oil revenues as a result of the south’s secession, which took place last July.

(ST)