Sudanese-Iranian ministerial committee held in Khartoum
KHARTOUM, Sep 5, 2004 (SUNA) — Minister of Energy and Mining, Dr. Awad Ahmed Al-Jazz, and the Iranian Minister of Agriculture, Mahmoud Hujati, Sunday co-chaired the 8th session of the meeting of the joint Sudanese-Iranian Ministerial committee at the Friendship Hall here.
Dr. Awad Al-Jazz appreciated levels of the distinguished relations linking Sudan and Iran, saying they maintain close coordination regarding regional and international issues of common concern, hailing Iran’s supportive stances toward the Sudan.
He further referred to the coming visit of the Iranian President, Mohammed Khatami, to Sudan next October, expressing hope that the visit be a fresh support to the interests of the peoples of the two countries.
Dr. Al-Jazz also briefed the Iranian side on the efforts being exerted by the government to achieve peace and economic and social development towards prosperity of the country.
In this regard, he touched on the causes of the current crisis of Darfur, saying that it was attributed to conflicts between herdsmen and farmers and was aggravated by a three-decade drought and armed robberies and spread of weapons due to armed disputes in the neighboring countries.
He referred to the government’s endeavors to bring the crisis of Darfur to an end via negotiations with the armed movements in Abuja under sponsorship of the Nigerian President, Obasanjo, besides working to make available humanitarian assistance for the affected people and encouraging voluntary repatriation of the displaced people.
The Minister cited achievements of the Salvation Revolution, particularly in restructuring of the Sudanese economy, attraction of foreign successful investments in the domains of oil.
Meanwhile, the Iranian Minister stressed importance of speeding up cooperation programmes between the two countries in different domains as stipulated in the previous meeting of the joint committee in Tehran.
In this regard, the Iranian Minister explained that many Iranian companies are desirous to invest in Sudan, calling for accelerating establishment of the Iranian Trade Centre in Khartoum.