Sudanese university to honour Mbeki
DAKAR, Senegal, Dec 27, 2004 (PANA) — The African International University in Khartoum, Sudan plans to confer a doctorate Honoris Causa in political science on South African President Thabo Mbeki when he visits the country late December, according to a diplomatic source in Sudan.
The source told PANA that although the planned visit was yet to be announced officially, preparations were underway within the university and the government to accord the South African leader a rousing welcome.
Mbeki is scheduled to arrive on 29 December in Khartoum, where he will address a session of Parliament and take part in official ceremonies marking Sudan’s independence anniversary on 1 January.
Another high point of Mbeki’s visit will come when he witnesses the signing of the a Peace Treaty between warring factions in the nearly 30-year civil conflict.
The African International University in Khartoum is considered one of the foremost pan-African institutions on the continent, drawing students from not less than 28 African countries.
Since taking over from former president Nelson Mandela, Mbeki has been at the centre of peace negotiations in several conflicts across Africa.
He was in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire recently to shore up a fragile cease-fire in a civil war that has divided that country for over two years.