Egypt’s Mubarak, Libya’s Gadhafi discuss Sudan’s Darfur talks

Sept 27, 2005 (CAIRO) — President Hosni Mubarak discussed the Darfur peace talks with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi Tuesday, shortly after the Egyptian leader took the oath for a fifth term, the president’s spokesman said.

Gadhafi flew to Cairo for Mubarak’s inauguration Tuesday.

In their talks after the ceremony, Mubarak and Gadhafi concentrated on Sudan and the negotiations to bring peace to its western region of Darfur, where more than two years of fighting has left about 180,000 people dead and 2 million people displaced, presidential spokesman Suleiman Awad told reporters.

The Darfur talks, which the African Union is chairing in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, are reported to be making progress on issues such as wealth and power sharing.

Awad said Libya has hosted two meetings on Darfur, the last in May, and that Gadhafi “maintains favorable connections with the parties to the conflict.”

Egypt has long standing interests in Sudan, which last week installed a government of national unity that included members of the former southern rebel group, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement.

Mubarak and Gadhafi also discussed the situation in Iraq, Syrian-Lebanese relations and the situation in the Palestinian territories, Awwad said.

Awad said Egypt was in contact with all groups in Iraq and was urging them to go pursue the political process as “the only way to open the road for the foreign presence to leave the country.” He was referring to the multinational force, which includes 135,000 U.S. troops.

Gadhafi left Cairo to return to Libya Tuesday afternoon.

Awad said Mubarak would hold talks Wednesday with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who crossed into northeastern Egypt from Gaza late Tuesday.

(AP/ST)