US lawmaker to visit Sudan, Ethiopia

WASHINGTON, Aug 10 (AFP) — A US lawmaker with a history of pushing for human rights will visit Sudan and Ethiopia next week to discuss regional stability as well as the future of democracy in East Africa, his office announced.

Republican Representative Chris Smith, who chairs the House International Relations Committee’s panel on Africa and human rights, will arrive in Ethiopia on Sunday, his spokesman, Brad Dayspring, said in a statement.

The August 14-21 visit comes as Sudanese vice president and former rebel leader John Garang’s death in a July 30 helicopter crash has sparked unrest in Khartoum and worries about a peace deal ending Sudan’s 21-year civil war.

In Sudan, Smith plans to meet with President Omar al-Beshir as well as Garang’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement to discuss efforts to implement the comprehensive peace agreement, which was signed in January.

“The only way forward is to ensure that his (Garang’s) efforts to secure peace, stability and justice in the region are continued,” the lawmaker said in the statement from his office.

Smith will also visit refugee camps in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region to determine whether supplies are reaching the people for whom they are intended and whether attacks on refugees have subsided, his office said.

And he will also meet with Christian and Muslim leaders to discuss easing racial and ethnic tensions and will visit a non-governmental organization devote to battling human trafficking.

In Ethiopia, Smith will meet with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Foreign Minister Seyum Mesfin to discuss that country’s boundary dispute with Eritrea and will discuss the disputed May 15 elections with local officials.

He will also meet with African Union officials to discuss peacekeeping efforts — such as the AU effort in Darfur — and future AU roles on the continent, and hopes to talk to Ethiopian Christian and Muslim leaders about ways to ease religious tensions, his office said.