Sudan to cease restrictions on movement of foreigners

KHARTOUM, Sep 18, 2003 (dpa) — Sudan made clear to foreign missions Thursday that it would lift restrictions on the movement of foreigners, specifically in the troubled areas of Darfur and southern Sudan.

“Foreigners will move freely inside the country without any prior notification and approval from security and military intelligence,” Mustafa Osman Ismael, Minister of Foreign Affairs told journalists after briefing foreign missions in Khartoum.

Foreigners can now travel anywhere in the country provided they have entry visas which will allow humanitarian agencies access to drought, flood and war hit-areas, he said.

But an opposition figure who requested anonymity said the government merely wanted to polish its image internationally amid growing concerns about killings in the Darfur region.

The U.N. special envoy for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Eric Vraalsen requested the government curb the activities of armed groups and pro- government militias claimed responsible for the recent massacre of citizens in Darfur.

The massacre followed a truce signing by the government and rebel group Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM).

Earlier this year an East Asian Ambassador was prevented from going into Kassala town by authorities in eastern Sudan despite his travel permit.

The authorities, owing to security fears, adjourned several diplomatic visits to the three disputed areas of the Blue Nile in the southeast, the Nuba Mountains and Abuei in Kordufan in the centre of the country and the western Darfur region.