Egyptian leader, Sudanese vice-president discuss peace developments
CAIRO, Oct 01, 2003 (MENA) — Visiting Sudanese Vice-President Ali Uthman Taha Wednesday said he delivered a message from his President Umar al-Bashir to President Husni Mubarak.
Speaking to reporters following his meeting today with the president, Taha said the message dealt with the latest developments of the peace march in Sudan and the coming round of negotiations between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) especially after the agreement reached between the two sides on security arrangements.
The message also dealt with the Egyptian and Arab support for those negotiations.
Efforts on the coming stage would be concentrated on reconstructing what the civil war had destroyed in the country, reviving the Sudanese economy in addition to the Arab countries’contribution to several projects, he said.
Those ventures will be financed by Arab funds and banks as it is difficult to depend only on the public sector at this stage, he said.
The Sudanese first president said during his visit he would meet with the Sudanese party figures [National Democratic Alliance Chairman] Uthman Mirghani and [Ummah Party President] Sadiq Mahdi on what has been reached and on future plans.
Asked whether these meetings would pave the way for the return of the opposition political powers to Sudan Ali Uthman Taha said the nascent peace would represent a qualitative change that would pave the way for the return of all the political powers to the country.
On whether the recently signed security and military framework agreement between the government and SPLM represents a process of confidence building measures between South and North, he said the agreement regulates the important technical details on military and administrative ties between the forces which were engaged in war.
He added that his current Arab tour will include several Arab and African countries.
As for whether the Arab dimension was present at the peace negotiations, the first vice-president said it was not direct during the negotiations, adding that before the round of talks, contacts were held with the Arab brothers, mainly Egypt, to reach an agreement on means of realizing peace.
He added that the Arab dimension was also present through the Arab League initiative in which Egypt played a key role in the establishment of a development fund in war-ravaged areas in Sudan.
He referred to his meeting with President Husni Mubarak, saying the Egyptian leader asserted Egypt’s support for Sudan’s unity and stability.