Sudan, Niger discuss regional integration, civil war

KHARTOUM, Sept 20 (AFP) — Sudan and Niger have wound up talks here focused on greater integration within the Community of Sahel and Saharan States (CENSAD), the Sudanese presidency said Saturday.

Niger president and current chairman of CENSAD, Mamadou Tandja, arrived in Sudan on Thursday for a three-day state visit to shore up investment, trade links, and freedom of movement and capital.

Tandja briefed Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir on his vision of CENSAD citizens living and working across the 18-member bloc, as well as plans to improve infrastructure and resolve conflicts.

Beshir briefed Tandja on his government’s peace talks underway in Kenya with rebels from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), the Sudanese presidency said in a statement.

Both leaders expressed their determination to work together to solve Sudan’s civil war and other CENSAD regional conflicts without interfering in member states’ internal affairs, the statement added.

Sudan’s civil war, which dates back to the 19th century, re-erupted when the SPLA took up arms in 1983 in the animist or Christian south against the Arab, Islamic north.

More than 1.5 million people have since been killed and four million displaced.